


Old Habits

by DewdropSunlight



Series: Old Habits Die Hard [1]
Category: teen wolf - Fandom
Genre: But we still love them, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Romance, Scott's an ass at first, Self-Harm, Trust, oblivious idiots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-16
Updated: 2015-04-20
Packaged: 2018-02-04 20:26:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 51,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1792105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DewdropSunlight/pseuds/DewdropSunlight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Once again blown off by Scott for a girl, Stiles is left alone with his thoughts and everyone knows how dangerous thoughts can be. Sterek! Warning: Self-harm. Triggers!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Stiles went straight to his room when he got home. He knew that his father was at the station and wouldn’t be back until later. While he didn’t mind his father being gone so much, some part of Stiles wished that he was home more often. Setting his backpack down on his bed (or rather throwing it), Stiles went to the computer and started it up. Scott had mentioned something about a Yotsuya Kaidan, some sort of Japanese creature Kira had mentioned, and Stiles was instantly intrigued. In fact, Scott was going to come over later so they could discuss it and play a video game. His phone made a soft ringing sound and Stiles fell out of his chair to get it out of his backpack.

“Stiles.”

“Hey, I can’t come.”

“Wait, what? Are you okay?” Stiles shifted his weight onto his left face and made a puzzled face.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Could I come over tomorrow?”

“Sure.”

“Sorry Stiles.” Scott’s voice rang with sympathy. In the background Stiles could hear Kira giggling. Anger pulsed through Stiles’s veins as he realized he was once again being blown off for a girl; first for Allison, now for Kira.

“Yeah, see you tomorrow.” His voice was tight and he hung up before throwing his phone at the wall, putting a small dent into the blue paint. Sighing, Stiles felt back on his bed, barely missing his backpack, and spread his arms out. His golden brown eyes stared at the ceiling like it held all the answers he needed. Like why did he feel like Scott and him weren’t as great as friends anymore? Oh well that might have to do with the fact that he was pushed aside every time for a girl. It might also have to do with the fact that he killed Allison. Granted he was being possessed by the Nogitsune, but he could still see and hear and feel everything going on. It was almost like HE himself had killed her.

Stiles started to shake and realized that he needed to calm down so a panic attack didn’t happen. A shower…..that sounded good at the moment. At no particular speed, Stiles undressed and hopped into the medium-hot shower. Breathing in and out slowly, he let the water run down his body. His heart seemed to have a different idea and started speeding up. Calm down. Stiles told himself.

Control. He needed to get into control. His mind raced trying to find something that would calm him. In other words, he needed an anchor or at least something that would be comforting. A thought passed through his head and the second he actually thought about doing it, he froze.

Stiles didn’t actually consider hurting himself until years after his mother died and roughly two years before Scott became a wolf. It was a late night when he had gotten back home. His father had gotten into a semi-severe accident and was in the hospital. The only reason he wasn’t there was that Mrs. McCall forced him outside so Stiles could sleep in his bed and for him to come back when he was rested. True, she knew of the amount of worry Stiles had for his only parent but she convinced him that he wouldn’t be able to help if he didn’t get sleep. Reluctantly Stiles went home. Scott had offered to come over yet despite the fact that he really did need someone; Stiles denied it and said he’d be fine, that he really just wanted to be alone.  
But with everything that’s happened…Stiles felt the urge coming to cut again. It was becoming overpowering and regardless of the consequences, Stiles stepped out of the shower and took out a razor, carefully taking it apart before throwing out the plastic. He knew that the wolves would be able to smell the blood however Stiles could just say he tripped.  
He held the blade in his left hand, it shaking a little.

Don’t do it…do it…Don’t do it…do it. He kept debating back and forth and suddenly there were four small cuts on his right wrist. Stiles felt his heart rate slow down a little. One more…then stop; any more would cause concern. And he really didn’t want anyone else worrying about him. With a shaky hand, he cut. Stiles gasped and immediately turned off the shower. The smart part of his brain was screaming at him; quick bandage it. The cut wasn’t extremely deep, but it definitely wasn’t shallow. Setting his wrist down on the counter, Stiles got out tape and a large band-aid.

* * *

 

Once again, Stiles fell back against his bed, eyes closed this time. Roughly an hour later he jolted awake, panicked.

“Stiles…it’s alright.” Whipping his head around, the outline of one Derek Hale with an unexplainable look on his face was staring at him. “It’s alright.” Derek’s voice was quiet and it took a few minutes before Stiles realized his heart had been racing. It took an even longer time for him to realize that he was gripping Derek’s shirt tightly and Derek’s hand was rubbing his back. “It’s alright.” The comforting words were continued to be whispered to him and eventually his grip relaxed and he leaned against the werewolf’s chest.

“I’m okay…” Stiles managed to say. “Don’t worry. I’m okay…” They stayed like that for who knows how long. It was 20 minutes or it was an hour. Stiles didn’t pay attention to anything but the heart beat of Derek and the circles being drawn onto his back.

“Stiles…” Stiles tensed a little, knowing what was to come…or at least he had a pretty good idea about what the werewolf was about to ask.

“Yeah?”

“Why do you smell of blood?” Stiles had to remind himself over and over again that this was Derek, the sourwolf that would threaten him (though Stiles knew the wolf wouldn’t actually harm him) and would push him up against the wall.

“It’s nothing sourwolf.” Gently, he pushed off of Derek’s chest and rubbed his eyes.

“You can tell me.” Derek stared back at him with such intensity that Stiles had to look away. He knew the wolf would be able to hear if he lied and it was already bad enough he could smell the pain he put himself in.

“I can’t.”

“Can’t what?” Derek pressed.

“I can’t…I don’t know how…” Annoyed with himself and his speaking abilities, Stiles ran a hand through his hair. “I didn’t know what else to do.” He barely spoke.

“What?” Stiles glared at the wolf, knowing that Derek heard what he said.  
“I didn’t know what else to do.” Minutes passed before anything was said. Stiles just looked down at his hands uncomfortably and started counting his fingers. It was the hand and voice of Derek that made him stop.

“You could’ve called me.” There was a ton of hurt in the werewolf’s voice. “You may be human, but you’re definitely pack.” Stiles looked at him and didn’t care that there was a tear rolling down his cheek. “I would’ve come and if you ever feel like this again, I want…no I need you to call me.” Stiles just nodded, which made Derek shake his head. “You don’t understand Stiles. I need you to call me.” The emphasis on the word ‘need’ made him just stare at Derek.

“Okay.”

“I won’t pester you more tonight since you have school tomorrow and I can smell how tired you are, but I’ll be here when you get home tomorrow and I expect us to talk about this.” Derek made a move to go but Stiles grabbed his wrist, causing the werewolf to turn and give a look of confusion and….anxiousness.

“Stay.” That one word made all the tension in the room break. Derek lightly smiled, took his shoes off, and laid on the bed next to Stiles. The younger teen hesitantly snuggled next to the wolf and was surprised when Derek allowed him to. He was even more surprised when the man wrapped his arm around him and pulled him closer.

“You’ll be alright.” Was the last thing he heard before he fell asleep.

* * *

 

Stiles is dreaming. At least, that’s what he keeps repeating to himself. No way had Derek found out about his old habit. No way had Derek comforted him when he had yet another dream-induced panic attack. No way had Derek been willing to cuddle with him and there’s definitely no way Derek is still cuddling with him. Stiles thought it over; it was Derek he was thinking about. Derek the sourwolf, the fun-spoiler, the one who never stops threatening him…it didn’t make sense. Finally opening his eyes, he just stared at the man lying next to him.

Derek certainly looked different when he was asleep. For once, there wasn’t a stern look on the man’s face. Stiles smiled and despite the fact that he found the entire situation strange, snuggled closer to Derek. He must have dozed off after that because the next time Stiles opened his eyes; it was because his father was shaking him awake.

“Are you feeling alright?” A concerned look showed on the Sheriff’s face. “I called you a few times and you didn’t wake up.” Yawning, Stiles sat up.

“Yeah, I’m good.” His father’s eyes softened.

“Listen…I normally don’t do this, but I’ll call the school and say you won’t be coming.” Stiles started to protest but stopped when a hand was put up. “You look like crap Stiles and I don’t need a call saying you were falling asleep in class again.” Sighing, Stiles nodded. “Just go back to sleep.” And Stiles did just that.

* * *

 

A soft buzzing awoke him. Rolling over, Stiles lazily patted around his side desk before remembering he chucked his phone. Groaning a little, he got up and looked around the floor for it.

 **From Scott:**  
Dude, where r u?

Stiles rubbed his face with his free hand.

 **To Scott:**  
At home. Don’t feel good.

He waited a few seconds.

 **From Scott:**  
Oh, so I shouldn’t come over then?

Glancing at the time, he noticed it was about an hour before school got out. Then, just as he was typing a response saying it was cool for Scott to still come over, he realized that Scott didn’t want to come over and Stiles “being sick” was probably a good thing.

 **To Scott:**  
Yeah…don’t want you to catch anything.

 **From Scott:**  
Feel better

Utter bullcrap, that’s what this was. Stiles knew for a fact that werewolves couldn’t get sick (well, not really) so him “not feeling well” shouldn’t make a difference to Scott. Huffing a little, Stiles flung open his bedroom door and hopped down the stairs towards the kitchen. Opening the refrigerator, he just stared…like the food was going to come out itself. Seconds passed and he closed it.

“There’s nothing to eat.”

“Or maybe you’re just not hungry.” The voice made him jump, which in turn caused him to hit his elbow on the counter top, which in turn caused Stiles to mumble something about his funny bone.

“Dude! Don’t do that!” There was a slightly amused look to Derek’s face when Stiles glared at him.

“Why aren’t you in school?” The question made Stiles tense a little, but he shook it off.

“I don’t feel well.” This made the man walk closer to Stiles.

“You’re not sick Stiles and I don’t know why you think you can lie.” Right…werewolves can hear heartbeats; Stiles reminded himself once again, unsure as to why he kept forgetting that small fact.

* * *

 

**Derek’s POV**

* * *

 

Since he was young, Derek’s loved night walks. It just so happens that he walks past Stiles’ house. So when he heard the boys’ heart rhythm pick up, Derek immediately stopped his walk and climbed the side of the house, then across the roof to Stiles’ window. He couldn’t sense anything and with his eyes adjusting, he couldn’t see anything either. Putting his fingers underneath the window sill, Derek lifted it up. “Stiles?” He lightly called out. A movement on the bed drew him closer. Derek’s adjusting eyes made it easy to see the cold sweat clinging to Stiles forehead. “Stiles!” The younger boy woke up and panic shown in his eyes. “Stiles…it’s alright.” Stiles quickly moved his head and Derek just stared at him.

“It’s alright.” He said quietly, hoping not to scare the kid anymore then he already was. When Stiles hand gripped his shirt tighter, Derek moved his hand to the teenager’s back and started to rub circles, much like what his mother used to do to him. “It’s alright.” Derek kept whispering it to him and ignored the surprised feeling when Stiles leaned up against him.

“I’m okay…” Stiles told him, but it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself then Derek. “Don’t worry. I’m okay…” Derek sadly smiled, even though the boy was terror-stricken, Stiles was still trying to pass of his feelings as nothing. They sat quietly, Stiles just leaning against him and Derek thinking while drawing circles on Stiles’ back. Suddenly Derek was really focused on his sense of smell. “Stiles…” Derek could feel the teenager tense.

“Yeah?”

“Why do you smell of blood?” Derek could see the inner turmoil, as Stiles’ face went from one reaction to the next.

“It’s nothing sourwolf.” Derek refrained from rolling his eyes at the lie.

“You can tell me.”

“I can’t.”

“Can’t what?” Derek pressed.

“I can’t…I don’t know how…” He watched as Stiles ran a hand through his hair in frustration. “I didn’t know what else to do.” The teenager lightly spoke and Derek was glad he had enhanced hearing abilities.

“What?” Stiles glared at the Derek with intensity.

“I didn’t know what else to do.” Minutes passed before anything was said. Stiles just looked down at his hands uncomfortably and started counting his fingers. Derek started to put his hand out, hesitated, and then put his hand on Stiles hands, trying to get him to stop counting. He knew the reason behind Stiles counting and felt saddened by it.

“You could’ve called me.” Derek couldn’t control his hurt leaking into his voice. “You may be human, but you’re definitely pack. I would’ve come and if you ever feel like this again, I want…no I need you to call me.” Stiles just nodded, which made Derek shake his head. “You don’t understand Stiles. I need you to call me.” Derek hated the fact that Stiles didn’t trust him. Sure, he was rude from time to time and perhaps a little pressuring at times, but he would do anything for pack. More specifically, he would do anything for Stiles.

“Okay.”

“I won’t pester you more tonight since you have school tomorrow and I can smell how tired you are, but I’ll be here when you get home tomorrow and I expect us to talk about this.” Derek made a move to go but Stiles grabbed his wrist, causing the werewolf to turn and give a look of confusion and….anxiousness. Derek had a myriad of emotions run through him.

“Stay.” Derek lightly smiled, took his shoes off, and laid on the bed next to Stiles. He tensed a little when the younger teen snuggled next to him but made no move to stop it. In fact, Derek pulled him a little closer.

“You’ll be alright.” Derek whispered to him, before he felt the boys’ body relax and his heart beat slow; which left Derek wide awake to think about things.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:
> 
> "You're not sick Stiles and I don't know why you think you can lie." Right...werewolves can hear heartbeats; Stiles reminded himself once again, unsure as to why he kept forgetting that small fact.

Turning his back on Derek, he faced the fridge and just stared at it. "You're right." Stiles put his hands on the counter and leaned against them. "I'm not sick. I just...I didn't want to go to school."

"Why?" Derek voiced.

"I didn't feel like it." Stiles closed his eyes and thought about it. Why didn't he want to go? Behind him, Derek was quiet. He nearly jumped thirty feet when a hand touched his shoulder.

"Stiles," Derek paused, before gently pushing the kid to where he was staring straight at him, "listen...we can either have this talk now or later. Your choice. But we will talk." That's when Stiles started to let his anger pour out, his face turning slightly red as his jaw clenched.

"No, we won't Derek. There is nothing to talk about." Stiles shoved Derek's shoulders extremely hard, and surprisingly the werewolf allowed him to. Storming past, he walked right up the stairs and into his room, making a show of slamming his door. Stiles yelled in utter frustration. It wasn't supposed to be like this! He was supposed to just continue on with his smiling and his not-so-little lies. He was supposed to just continue on feeling the way he was because he deserved it. His mom died because of him. Scott is pushing away because of him. Stiles always gets involved in everything.

A knock on the door interrupted his corrupted thoughts of himself. "Stiles, let me in." Derek's usually gruff voice came out soft and mellow. Stiles turned his head from side to side, trying to find something to block the door. He didn't want to hear anyone else's thoughts, just his own. He didn't want to be told what to do or not to do. He just wanted to be left alone in his miserable state. Bed; that should do it. Quickly, Stiles pushed hard against his bed, summoning strength he usually never uses. "Stiles?" Derek's voice seemed to have a tinge of panic along with confusion. As soon as the bed hit the door, Derek started to pound on it. "Stiles let me in!" Derek became more urgent.

"Leave me alone!" Stiles screamed, putting his hands to his hair and pulling on it. He backed himself into the farthest corner and knelt down. His heart rate spiked and his breaths became shorter. Soon enough, Derek's voice was mumble-jumble and nothing was making sense. "Leave me alone..." Stiles whispered to himself before falling into the depths of his mind for silence.

* * *

 

An uncomfortable neck ache was what woke him. Moaning, (with his eyes still closed) Stiles moved his head in a small circle, stopping when his head hit a soft wall. Opening one eye, he looked up to see Derek sleeping. Then opening both eyes, he realized that he was still in the corner of his room with his bed against his door (Derek must've gone around to his window) and he was currently curled up in Derek's lap with Derek's arms securely tightened around him. Wiggling a bit, Stiles managed to get out of Derek's grip, straightening himself out when he stood up.

He must've had a panic attack and his lack of breath caused him to pass out. Scratching the back of his head, Stiles looked down at Derek and then his bed. Shrugging his shoulders, he decided to take a shot at his thought. He bent down next to the sleeping figure and put his arms under the werewolf. On the count of three, he lifted up and surprised by his own weight, almost dropped Derek. Smiling a little, the first legit one for the first time in months, Stiles slowly walked to his bed and set the werewolf down on it. Stiles took the edge of the covers and pulled them up to Derek's shoulders.

A flashback from when his mother would tuck him in and kiss him on the forehead came back to him, causing Stiles to smile again. Turning his back on Derek, Stiles went over to his desk and turned on his computer, or rather started it up again as he didn't turn it off last night. Checking his email, he didn't receive and and then, after that, turned it off. He sat there for a few minutes, tapping his fingers on the desk.

Then the day passed through his head. August 28th...nine years after his mother passed away. Instantly Stiles wrapped his arms around himself, something he used to do a lot as a child. He used to think it would protect him, maybe not forever but until the day had passed. If possible, the already small, skinny boy became smaller and thinner.

True, he had his dad to help deal, but in the past few years the Sheriff had made himself busy with work or helping someone to move to a new house. Thus leaving Stiles by himself to handle the repercussions of his mother's death.

Suddenly feeling a tad claustrophobic, Stiles glanced at the werewolf then at the window. His decision made, Stiles grabbed the razor (quite hesitantly actually) before taking a last look at Derek and slipping out onto his rooftop. despite the fact that he's 'not athletic' or a werewolf, Stiles had jumped off his rooftop numerous times to either go to Scott's house or to do something with the pack. Taking a deep breath, Stiles jumped and landed perfectly.

Then he ran, not bothering with his bike or his jeep. In all honestly though, a jeep starting up would wake Derek and the last thing Stiles wanted to do right now was talk. A bike would've been reasonable but he hadn't thought about it until he was a few blocks away. Cursing himself for not thinking of it sooner, he kicked a tiny rock on the sidewalk.

Left, straight for two blocks, right, straight for three blocks; Stiles arrived at the town cemetery.

* * *

 

He felt the breath he was holding release, and his body relax with the exhale. Calmly, Stiles walked through the graveyard to his mother's headstone, wrapping his arms around himself. Kneeling down the second he got to the site, Stiles looked at the engraving in the granite.

 

_**Claudia Stilinski** _  
_**Born-January 23rd, 1969** _  
_**Died-August 28th, 2006** _

 

Stiles sat down, his back against the cold stone and leaned his head back, closing his eyes. His legs sprawled out in front of him, one knee bent. "Hey mom," his voice cracked, "everything's good." Rolling his head back and forth, he backtracked. "That's wrong. Nothing's good. Scott has his head up his butt with his new girl Kira. He fails to see how I'm falling apart. Despite the fact that he's a freakin' werewolf and should be able to tell when I'm lying! And then you have everyone else who are so into their own worlds. Lydia's still going after every guy in school since Aiden has died. Ethan and Danny got back together. Isaac is gone with Mr. Argent. Cora and Malia are getting used to school, though Cora makes a fit about the kids most of the time." Stiles paused to take a breath. "Then there's Derek." A small, some would say pathetic, laugh came from his mouth. He stayed quiet after that, no words necessary.

Finally, he decided to break the silence. "I'm sorry Mom...I just can't do it anymore." He curled up in himself, head on his legs. "I can't stand the lies. I can't sleep at night. I can't concentrate and it's not because of my ADHD. I can't stand being alone. I just...I'm just...it's hopeless." His fingers fumbled in his pocket for the razor he brought with him. Stiles rolled up his sleeve and gently pressed it to his skin.

"Stiles!" Stiles jumped roughly thirty feet, causing him to cut a little too deep.

"Crap!" He didn't look up at whoever said his name, just looked at the new stream of blood coming from his wrist. The fact that he didn't hit a vein was good, but the sooner he stopped the bleeding, the better.

"Here." Whoever it was bent down next to him and lightly grabbed his wrist. It was then that Stiles decided to look up. His mouth almost dropped.

"D-Derek? What are you doing here?"

"Shut up Stiles and just let me help." Stiles nodded, watching as Derek took off his shirt and ripped it to form a bandage. When Derek was finished, Stiles just let his arm drop to his lap and refused to look at the man. He heard Derek sigh before the werewolf stood up. "Let's go." Stiles just shook his head.

"I don't want to." The whisper, well if it could even be called that, was extremely quiet and derek assumed that (although he had enhanced hearing) he wasn't supposed to hear it. Derek sighed before he sat down next to Stiles.

"Okay Stiles, keep talking. I'm here."

"Alright."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! :D
> 
> All characters belong to MTV.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:
> 
> “Okay Stiles, keep talking. I’m here.” 
> 
> “Alright.”

Minutes passed, each one seeming to drag out. Stiles cleared his throat and continued looking at the ground. “I…I don’t...” He stuttered out

“Start at the beginning.” Derek said gently. “Why’d you do it?”

“My mom; when she passed away, everything changed. All our holidays we celebrated seemed to go flat and the house seemed to just get messier and messier. My dad started working late most nights and heading in early the next day.” His voice was extremely quiet, but Stiles knew that the werewolf would be able to hear him no problem. Changing his posture, Stiles spoke again. “Everything just spiraled out of control. When I wasn’t alone Scott was with me, but I knew it made Scott sad when I cried about my mom so eventually I stopped in front of him. I put on a smile and showed that I was getting better. But—I, I wasn’t.” Stiles held back a sob, biting down on his lip hard. “So I hurt myself to let out the pain and I would’ve kept doing it. But my dad…he woke up and saw the state we were in. Well…Mrs. McCall helped with snapping him out of it. We sat down and we talked and it just…got better. The house was cleaner, dad didn’t over-work himself, and some of the smiles were genuine...” Derek reached his arm around Stiles’s shoulder and rubbed small circles. “Everything seemed to get better.”

“What led you to it this time?”

“Lots of things; Scott blowing me off every time we have plans for a girl, my dad has been working more, little things like Jackson, not being able to protect you guys…” Stiles trailed off as a slight tinge of pink arose to his cheeks. “Stupid reasons.”

“In no way are those stupid Stiles.” Derek’s eyes glanced over the boy who seemed to be falling apart.

“I just…I get so overwhelmed and I can’t control it. I need the control. It helps me concentrate and focus better. Sure it sounds extremely messed up but it’s true.” He defended himself, though he knew with Derek he didn’t have to. While he knew Derek certainly did not self harm (the cuts would heal themselves instantly anyway), Stiles knew Derek would understand the pain of losing a family member and being in a state of grief. His shaking hands, perhaps from anxiety or telling Derek thoughts and feelings he doesn’t tell anyone, came to a stop when Derek placed his hands on Stiles’s.

“You don’t need to hurt yourself to concentrate. If you took your Adderall, that might help.” Stiles violently shook his head in response.

“Adderall just makes me feel claustrophobic and puts my head in a cloud. I can still have a clear head when I cut.”

“We both know that you need to stop and I will refuse all protest of leaving you alone.” Tightening his grip a little on Stiles’s hands, Derek stared deeply into the teenagers eyes. They were a vibrant honey with dark brown bleeding in from the outside. Gorgeous wouldn’t even begin to describe what the eye color was.

“Thanks.”

“No problem.” Once again, minutes passed before a word was said,

“Just…thanks.”

“Yeah, you already said that Stiles.”

“Well I really mean it.”

“Then you’re really welcome.” A small, hardly noticeable smile turned the corner of Stiles’s lips up.

“Why are you here Derek?” Derek turned to give him a strange look.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean…why are you here? You don’t particularly like me and I just…it’s weird.” Stiles shrugged his shoulders.

“Because you’re a good person Stiles.”

“Maybe, maybe not.” Again, Stiles shrugged. This time round though, he was slightly shocked when Derek’s grip upon his shoulder tightened.  
“You are, Stiles. There’s no doubt about it.”

* * *

 

The two men stayed there for the next hour, just swapping random snippets of their lives or short stories of what happened to those around them. When the sun was setting and Stiles started shiver a little, Derek had called it and said it would be best they got home at a reasonable time. As they walked to Stiles’s house, Derek pulled Stiles closer to him and from a distance; he looked like an overprotective boyfriend. Reaching the house, Stiles pointed up to the room and (after Derek gave him a confused look) reminded the werewolf that his bedroom door was currently locked.

“Can you—stay? For another night.” Stiles asked quietly, as if somewhat afraid that his question could highly offend the sourwolf.  
“Whatever makes you comfortable.” Moving the bed back to its original position in the room, Stiles took off his shirt and threw it somewhere on the ground. As the two settled in, Derek wrapped his arms tighter against Stiles

“You make me comfortable.” With that said, Stiles felt his heart rate relax and eventually, he fell asleep to the rhythmic beating of Derek’s heart.

The early sun rays lit up Stiles’s room in a warm glow, casting shadows where need be. The room was silent except for the soft hum of Stiles lightly snoring. In fact, the entire house was quiet as the sun rose. Soon though, the silence would be broken as the Sheriff’s cruiser was making its way down the street towards the two-floor, light brown house.  
As the front door was closed gently, the Sheriff shrugged his jacket off, hung it up, and then took of his shoes. He walked into the kitchen and turned on the coffee machine before starting up the stairs to check on his son. Reaching the top of the stairs, he paused a little but shook off the strange heart rhythm and continued walking. When he opened his son’s door, a soft smile came to the Sheriff’s face. Stiles was curled up in his bed, sleeping away, clear from any nightmares.  
There; that sharp pain again in his chest. He gripped his chest in both confusion and slight fear. “Sti—” His voice was cut off at his heart started beating out of control, causing him to fall to the floor; which in turn caused Stiles to jump up in a jumbled manner.

“Dad!” Terror wouldn’t even begin to describe the emotion in the yell. Stiles rushed to his side and started to dial 911 with his right hand. “Dad, come on!” His voice was lined with anxiety and fearfulness. “Come on! Stay with me!” When his father’s eyes started to close a little, Stiles lightly slapped at his cheeks to get him to stay awake. “Come on, come on, come on…” Tears came to Stiles’s eyes but he refused to let them fall as he just kept repeating the words over and over again as he started CPR.  
Stiles was so in tune to the fact that his father was dying in front of him and nothing was helping, that he didn’t hear the paramedics break down the front door or come running up the stairs or even into his room.

“Son, you need to let us to our job, let him go.” A man grabbed Stiles, much like how his father would grab him after his nightmares, and pulled him back.

“Dad!” Stiles called out after his father was being put on a stretcher.

* * *

 

Stiles sat in the blue, uncomfortable hospital chair with his head on his hands, occasionally running them through his hair and sighing in impatience and frustration. Every few minutes he would length his legs, bounce his right up and down, and then move back to a crouched over position. Sometimes he would rock back and forth, trying to stop the tears cascading down his face. The fear of losing his father was overpowering and made Stiles feel like all his control was gone.  
As the hours went by, Mrs. McCall came and the second she saw him, she demanded answers from all nurses on call. She quickly came back to Stiles and told him that his father was going into surgery. She had also asked if he wanted her to call Scott but Stiles just shook his head. Seeing Scott would just remind him that he’s second-best compared to Scott’s girlfriends. Eventually Mrs. McCall had to go work, though she wanted to stay with him.

Another hour or two slowly ticked away with Stiles repeating his movements before; legs out, run a hand through the hair, legs in, rock back and forth, more running of hands through the hair, repeat. Stiles wouldn’t be able to tell someone when Lydia came and left or when Issac decided to come and leave. He wouldn’t even be able to tell when Derek came, just that right now his boyfr…friend was rubbing circles onto his back and whispering words to him.

“He’s just in surgery. He’ll be alright Stiles, I know it.” The words were comforting, but only slightly.

“I can’t lose him…I just can’t Derek.” Stiles whispered.

“I know.” Derek’s hand moved to Stiles hair and started twirling it, doing his best to try and relax the stressed out teen.

* * *

 

“Your dad will be fine Mr. Stilinski. He had a minor heart attack. We will, however, be keeping him overnight as procedure and to discuss some things he should keep a look out for.” The doctor stood in front of him and Derek, explaining what was happening and what Stiles himself should keep an eye on. After the doctor left to go see another patient, Derek turned to Stiles, putting his hands on Stiles’s shoulders.

“I told you so.” There was a small smile on Derek’s face. “Your dad is alright.” Quickly glancing at his watch, Derek looked up at Stiles. “Let’s get you home.” Stiles nodded, understanding that if he was to help his father, a good night’s rest would work. The ride home was silent, neither one talking much. About halfway to Stiles’s house, Derek reached over and gripped his hand tightly, another act of reassurance of how everything was going to be fine. Finally pulling into the driveway, Derek looked at Stiles, who was pretty close to being asleep. He hopped out of his car, went over to the other side, opened the door, and started to rouse Stiles.

“Time to go inside Stiles.” His voice was barely a whisper. Stiles nodded awake and hugged close to Derek when he got out. As they reached the door, Derek pulled back on Stiles’s hand, releasing Stiles from his grip.

“What are you doing?” There was a confused look on Stiles’s face.

“I’m going to go back to the loft.” Derek replied in a calm voice, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Come on Derek! What even are we? We spend two nights together and we aren’t even talking about it? Not to mention the hand holding…”

“Stiles I don’t want to—”

“Why do you even care Derek?” Stiles continued to ramble on loudly. “You’ve hated me since day one! And if this is your way to hurt me than you can just leave right now.” Extremely frustrated, Derek ran a hand through his hair…how to make Stiles understand. What do they do in movies? Staring at Stiles and seeing Stiles was awaiting an answer, Derek went with the classic kiss-to-shut-them-up move. While he was right in how it was effective in getting Stiles to shut up, he wasn’t expecting Stiles to start kissing back in a passionate matter. He broke it off and took a step back.

“That’s why I care.” Derek walked away, leaving Stiles standing at his front door, mouth open in shock and mind racing with all sorts of thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading :) :) :)
> 
> All characters belong to MTV


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:
> 
> “Why do you even care Derek?” Stiles continued to ramble on loudly. “You’ve hated me since day one! And if this is your way to hurt me than you can just leave right now.” Extremely frustrated, Derek ran a hand through his hair…how to make Stiles understand. What do they do in movies? Staring at Stiles and seeing Stiles was awaiting an answer, Derek went with the classic kiss-to-shut-them-up move. While he was right in how it was effective in getting Stiles to shut up, he wasn’t expecting Stiles to start kissing back in a passionate matter. He broke it off and took a step back.
> 
> “That’s why I care.” Derek walked away, leaving Stiles standing at his front door, mouth open in shock and mind racing with all sorts of thoughts.

Dumbstruck; the only word that could explain the look on Stiles’s face. Well that’s not true…flabbergasted, shocked, dumbfounded, stunned, and rendered speechless could all be use. Derek had kissed him; kissed him, kissed him of all people and then just left like it was no big deal. Like it was no big deal that Stiles started kissing him back and wanted to continue kissing Derek; that Stiles wanted Derek to shove him against the wall much like how he had done when they first met because less face it, Stiles really enjoyed the rush it gave him. But no…Derek had said something and left him standing there. What had he said? Stiles racked his brain for the answer but a bunch of mumbled, faded words came to head.

“Dammit Sourwolf!” He threw his hands up in the air before getting his house key from his pocket and going inside. Walking into the kitchen, Stiles went to the far left kitchen cabinet and got down a glass. Perhaps water would help him make sense of what just happened, though Stiles sincerely doubted it. It would probably just make the situation even more confusing. Sipping on the water, he bounded up the stairs to his room, eventually sitting down at his desk and staring blankly at his light-blue walls. On the way up he didn’t switch on the lights, so from the outside, it was strange that the teenager was just staring at nothing in the complete dark with no noises. But that’s what Stiles did…for several minutes before a thought popped up. Fumbling around for his cell phone, he pulled up a contact that, in the past, he’s restrained from calling. On the third ring, the person picked up.

“Hello?” The voice was candy-sweet but the tone was of annoyance.

“Lydia, its Stiles.”

“Stiles? What are you calling me for?” While the annoyance was still there, it was toned down a little by his ex-crush.

“I don’t know what to do.” Stiles groaned, not even beginning to explain what happen.

“What else is new….what happened”

“I got kissed…by Derek.” A small blush came to his cheeks when the memory replayed through his head.

“Did you kiss him back?” Lydia demanded.

“Of course.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“He just…he….” Stiles waved his free hand wildly about, trying to explain it. “He just left! I don’t even know what he said.”

“Did you go after him?” Even though Stiles was nowhere near the girl, he could feel her judgmental, annoyed glare.

“I was to—”

“Stiles! He kissed you. He left, and you didn’t go after him! Does he even know you’ve been pining over him for over a year?”

“I kissed him back. Doesn’t that count?”

“Stiles, call me when you’ve told Derek.” The dial tone met his ear and after rolling his eyes at the dramatic flair Lydia always seemed to add, Stiles turned off his phone. Was that what happened? Derek had no clue that Stiles wanted him? Did Derek not get the hint when Stiles kissed him back? He is a werewolf and all; Derek should’ve heard his heart rate increase. Rubbing his eyes, Stiles took a glance outside before falling onto his bed.

* * *

 

Stiles thrashed back and forth in his sleep. “Dad!” He screamed out and his grip on the sheets beneath him got stronger. “Dad!” The teenager shrieked out. If anyone had been in the room around him…but there wasn’t. It was only the boy moving violently on his bed. “Please….come on! You can’t leave me!” Tears had come to the Stiles’s eyes and suddenly he sat up, chest heaving from the fear the nightmare induced. “Dad…” The word was more of a whisper now. Stiles wrapped his arms around himself, much like how he did at the hospital. His light crying turned into hard sobbing.

The fear of losing his father, despite him knowing that his dad was going to be fine, was overwhelming. At the hospital he barely let out of the fact that inside was falling apart more and more. Strings that were barely holding him together were snapping and breaking apart by the second. Control; the word kept being repeated in his head. He needed control. He needed the control that only one thing could bring to him.

Then another thought popped into his head; what about Derek? Looking at the clock on the side-table, the numbers 1:29 shined brightly at him. Stiles ran a hand through his hair while shaking his head, no way would Derek like an interruption this early. Control. Biting his lower lip, Stiles walked over to his desk and took a deep breath before opening the upper right, locked drawer. Control. He gripped the razor tight in his hand and held it close to his left wrist. With a small, restricted flick of his wrist, a small red line appeared; then another and another and another. Control.

* * *

 

The morning light woke him up. As he shook himself out of his slumber, he felt a slight pain in his wrist as Stiles moved to sit up. Thrown into a small moment of disarray, Stiles checked his wrist in a flash of panic. Stiles’s eyes widened a little as he saw the marks on his wrist. If Derek somehow found out, he’d be killed. Thinking about Derek brought up thoughts of the impeding impediment between the two. Rolling his head to crack his neck, Stiles walked to his dresser and pulled out his grey lacrosse hoodie.

Picking up his watch and his keys, Stiles didn’t even stop in the kitchen for breakfast before he was out the door and on his way to the hospital to check up on his father. The doctor gave the same news as before and that his father would be released in a few hours. He was also told to expect a call. On the way out, Stiles was stopped by Mrs. McCall coming in to work.

“Hey honey, how’s your dad? I was gonna check on him before I start.” She gave him her classic soft smile.

“He’s doing okay. He’s gonna be here a little longer.”

“Alright sweetie.” Melissa put her hand on his shoulder and rubbed a slightly. “Well I have to go. Call me later okay?” Stiles nodded and gave her a small hug before leaving. As he pulled his car door shut and as he was driving back to his house, a realization came over him as he turned onto the street to Derek’s loft; he wasn’t driving to his house. His subconscious had led him to the place. Shrugging his shoulders, Stiles pulled up to a parking spot and got out; might as well talk to Derek now rather than later.

Reaching the lofts’ door, he hesitated before pulling it open. “Derek?” No answer. Just out of curiosity, Stiles stepped farther into the flat. “Derek, where are you?” Stiles asked in a sing-song voice, trying his best to be funny.

“Stop being annoying Stiles.” Straightening up at the voice, Stiles looked around. At the top of the swirly stairs, Derek was casually walking down.

“When aren’t I?” A silence came over the two. After a minute, Stiles decided to ask the question on his mind instead of being abstain. “Are we going to talk about it?”

“Talk about what?” There’s the evasive Derek Stiles knew.

“You know what I mean; the kiss.” Stiles moved his hands to try and emphasize what he was saying.

“What about it?”

“You know…” Summoning his courage, Stiles stepped closer to the werewolf. “the kiss.” Derek looked at him in a cautious matter, unsure of what the teenager was doing. “It went,” Stiles took a step closer. “something,” another step closer, “like this.” Stiles grabbed Derek and pulled him down till his mouth was right next to his, until they could feel their on each other. The tension became too much and Stiles pulled Derek down to kiss. Their mouths clashed together in a mix of passion, intensity, and zeal. Derek took control and pushed Stiles against the lofts’ poles. Any sexual tension that was there, increased exponentially. Stiles’s hands stayed on Derek’s neck while Derek’s hands started moving up and down his body. When Derek started kissing his neck, Stiles moaned in delight.

“Are you sure about this?” Derek broke away for a second to whisper the question.

“Definitely.” The kissing started again and the want to touch each other’s bodies increased. All other thoughts were out of Stiles’s mind until Derek touched his wrist, causing Stiles to mildly jump in surprise. Being a werewolf, Derek let out a growl and broke away.

“What the hell was that Stiles?”

“Nothing.” Stiles defensively said, partly because he knew he had ruined whatever they were going to do. He crossed his arms, trying to make him look smaller than he already was.

“Bullshit.” Derek hollered in his alpha voice, bringing up the memory of when he forced Isaac to back down and away from Stiles. Seeing Stiles trying to slip away, Derek grabbed his wrist (the one he hadn’t flinched to) and forced him to sit down on the pathetic excuse for a couch that he’s been dying to get rid of. “We’re having this talk now Stiles, not later…now.”

“No.” Stiles argued as he tried to stand back up, only to be roughly pushed down. Derek towered over him with his famous glare on and was, no doubt, going to make him stay here for who knows how long until he talked. Defiantly, Stiles refused to open his mouth to explain all the emotions that he went through the night before and the thoughts that made him hurt himself again.

“Stiles! Dammit tell me!” The werewolf started pacing back and forth, trying to focus on something else in the loft that would take some of his anger away. Kissing Stiles came to mind and a connection was made from last night to the cuts on his wrist. “Don’t tell me you did this because I kissed you?” The statement-like question had a scoffing, disbelief tone to it. “You should’ve called me instead of doing something irrational!”

“Of course you’d be thinking about yourself right now. All about you Derek! Well guess what?” Stiles jumped up. “You’re,” he pointed at Derek, “the one that walked away. What the hell was I suppose to think? Oh yeah, while I’m at it, why don’t I mention the fact that my only parent is in the hospital for a heart attack. Sorry that I felt an ‘irrational’,” Stiles made quotations marks, “fear that my dad would be taken from me.” All he wanted to do was cry but Stiles was done crying; he’s been crying for the past few days and all it’s been doing is giving him a headache.

“You still could’ve called me Stiles.” Derek countered, seeming to ignore everything Stiles had just stated. “I would’ve come right back.” Sourwolf ended on a soft note, a caring and open expression on his face, showing how hurt he was that Stiles didn’t call.

“You walked away.” Stiles shook his head. “I didn’t really think that you would want to talk at the moment, otherwise you would’ve stayed.”

“Just…” Derek threw his hands down in defeat, not sure how to explain how he was feeling. “I just…every time you cut I feel like I’m powerless and no matter what I do, nothing’s good enough.” Watching as Derek ran a hand through his hair, Stiles sat down again and just let his entire body relax. Strained silence fell across the two as neither one wanted to speak; Stiles due to guilt and Derek due to frustration and anger. Looking back on his memories, Stiles couldn’t remember when the last time things between the two of them were so tense, and not in a sexual matter. The two sat quietly, both focused on their own thoughts while well aware of the other being in the room.

“I’m leaving.” Still looking at the ground as he said it, Stiles stood up and started walking towards the loft door. When he was just about to reach out for the handle, a strong, firm hand grabbed his wrist and held him back.

“Don’t, please. I just…I’m not good at expressing my feelings, you know that. You’ve always known that. You know everything about everyone.” Just turning his head, Stiles saw Derek just staring at him. “I don’t know how, but you do Stiles.” Turning more into the werewolf’s embrace, he moved closer yet remained at a reasonable distance. “But I think you should know that I’m not giving up on you….ever. You can do this, Stiles, you can beat this. You’re so much better than what you think you are. This isn’t just one way though Stiles, you’ve got to try. You’ve got to for Scott, for your dad, for your other friends….for me. Understand?” The only thing Stiles could do was nod, having lost all words he was going to say before Derek started his speech. “Understand?” Derek asked him again and the grip on his wrist became tighter.

“Yes, yes I understand.” When the grip on his wrist lightened, Stiles was slightly surprised when Derek pulled him into a hug.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya guys :) Thanks for reading :)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:   
> “Yes, yes I understand.” When the grip on his wrist lightened, Stiles was slightly surprised when Derek pulled him into a hug.

Other than the two men, the apartment was lifeless. It had been about an hour since the couple, or whatever they were called (as they hadn’t really discussed it), had their first argument in which Derek, in more words than three, said that he cared for Stiles, which in turn made the teenager extremely happy. Now Stiles was sitting on Derek’s lap, his legs sprawled out on the couch, and were leaning into the crook of Derek’s neck. Derek, on the other hand, was resting his head on top of Stiles and just breathing his scent in because honestly, he would never be able to get enough of the vanilla, blueberries, and something else that Derek just couldn’t place. However the silence was not made to last as Stiles phone in his back pocket vibrated. A soft moan came from Stiles, who was very comfortable and was just about to fall asleep, before he reached into his pocket and pulled it out.

“Hello?”

“Good day Mr. Stilinski. It’s Doctor Ernst from the hospital. If you want to come pick up your father, he’s feeling a lot better and he’s in the clear.” The doctor’s chirpy voice came through the phone and Stiles jumped up.

“Yes, I’ll be right there.” A large smile appeared on his face when he hung up. Turning back to Derek, who probably already heard who was on the phone; he stated happily, “My dad’s coming home.” Derek nodded.

“Do you want me to go with you?”

“Nah, it’s all good.” The smile on his face was contagious apparently as the deemed sourwolf also began to grin. They stood there staring at each other for moments before Stiles shyly waved goodbye and made his way to the parking lot. In his head, he was counting to see if Derek would come after him or not. It’s not that Stiles was shy, which would be insane to think as he never shut up and he was boisterous, but when it comes to relationships, he can get bashful at times. True to his thoughts, a hand grabbed his wrist firmly just as he was opening the jeep door.

“Wait…” Turning around, Stiles stared at Derek. In a heated goodbye Derek pushed Stiles against the jeep door, closing it, and kissed him. They broke away, only to stare at each other and kiss again. Stiles gently, but firmly pushed Derek away.

“As much as I would love to continue kissing you, I have to go get my dad.” Derek nodded understandingly and kissed Stiles once more before shoving his hands in his pockets and walking back to his loft.

* * *

 

“Hey Dad.” Stiles smiled as he watched his father brush off the nurse before gruffly sitting in the wheelchair offered to him. In his hands, he folded up the Sheriff’s jacket and held it close to his stomach.

“Hi Stiles.” The Sheriff sighed. “I told them I could drive myself home and to not bother you. By the way,” he fixed an eye on Stiles, “why aren’t you in school?” The question got the answer of rolling eyes.

“Maybe because my dad decided to have a heart attack and it’s the weekend.”

“Right, I knew that.” Stiles’s dad rubbed the back of his head and after a millisecond of silence, nodded towards the door. “Come on, let’s go home.” They walked quietly to the hospital doors, and then Stiles took over pushing his dad to the car so the nurse could go help some other patient. No words were passed as Stiles folded up the wheelchair, put it in the back of the jeep, kept an eye on his dad getting into the car, and then got in himself. Neither knew what to say on the way back as well; Stiles was ecstatic his father was back home but at the same time the worry at the back of his mind was constantly nagging at him with _what if’s_. Sheriff Stilinski, on the other hand, knew that what had happened would make Stiles worry more and knew that he was lucky he didn’t die and leave Stiles alone. When they pulled into the driveway, Stiles stopped the car but didn’t move.

“Dad—” A hand stopped him.

“Inside.” Stiles nodded and proceeded to get out of the jeep. Once inside the house, Stiles pointed at the couch with a firm look that told the Sheriff Stiles was going to lay down the rules. He jumped the gun before Stiles could even get a word out. “Listen, I _know_ my eating habits aren’t the best. I _know_ you’ve been trying to get me to eat healthier and that I’ve been going behind at times and eating extra bacon or eating fast food. And I definitely know you’re pissed at me. I’m going to try and do better Stiles, that’s a promise. Now,” Stiles opened his mouth to interrupt the Sheriff’s speech, however he was cut short again. “I need to ask you something extremely important.” All the thoughts of Derek passed through Stiles’s head and all he could think of was _he knows_. “Would it be alright if I passed guardianship onto Scott’s mother if this….happened again?” Stiles thought for a moment before nodding.

“But it’s not going to happen again.” Stiles’s crossed arms were uncrossed. “And I’m not mad at you dad…I’m just….I was….I thought you had died.” Sheriff Stilinski stood up and hugged Stiles, one hand behind his son’s head and the other around his waist.

“I’m not leaving Stiles. I wouldn’t ever.” They stayed there just holding each other before Stiles pushed away.

“Come on, I’ll make you some salad.”

* * *

 

“Yeah, he’s home.” Stiles said towards his phone that was lying halfway across the room.

“That’s good.” Derek’s scratchy voice came over the speaker and caused Stiles to smile. Finishing putting on his pajamas, Stiles walked over and picked up the phone, taking it off of speaker.

“It’s late, I should get going…”

“But?”

“I don’t want to.” Stiles completed his thought, his eyes trailing over to his door, as if he could see right through it and see his dad sleeping.

“Why?” Derek had patience in his voice.

“What if something happens when I’m not here tomorrow? I have school. No one will be able to help him. He’s not even supposed to go to work till Tuesday and he can’t lift anything to heavy for a few weeks.” Agitated, Stiles moved around on his bed.

“What if I promised I’d keep an eye on him tomorrow?”

“But—”

“ _Stiles_ , I’m not busy. Nothing’s attacked for a few months and me trailing your father will give me something to do. Actually,” there was a small pause, “he could come over here and help me with the loft. I’ll come over after you go to school and grab him.” A heavy, yet relaxing, sigh came from Stiles.

“Thanks Derek.”

“Night Stiles.” The teenager yawned.

“Night."

* * *

 

School was not, in any way shape or form, fun. To start off the day was gym, like he could run in the first place, English, like he wanted to be in the class, and then the infamous Chemistry with Mr. Harris, who ultimately hates Stiles with a firing burning passion deep in his gut. Despite Harris, it was Stiles’s first class with Scott in the day so the second the bell rang, Stiles was immediately whispering to Scott.

“Hey, my dad’s home.” This got a strange look.

“Where’d your dad go?” Stiles made an ‘O’ shape with his mouth when he realized he hadn’t wanted Scott to know in the first place because he was blown off for Kira.

“He had a small heart attack and was in the hospital for a few days.”

“Dude!” The outburst from Scott received several glares from nearby people and a look from Isaac, but eventually everyone ignored them again, just in time to miss Scott punch Stiles in the arm. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I was busy.”

“Pay attention Mr. Stilinski and Mr. McCall. I do enjoy handing out detentions though….so forget that and please keep talking.” Harris shot them a sociopathic grin. Not particularly wanting a detention, Stiles ignored Scott’s attempt to start the conversation again.

* * *

 

“I’ll tell you more at lunch.” Stiles said when the two teenagers reached the Chemistry door.

“Oh about that…” Scott smiled apologetically. “I sort of promised—” He didn’t have to say more as Kira came from behind him and grabbed his arm.

“Let’s go Scott.” There was a wild smile on the girls’ face, probably because her father was a teacher and she was on her way to skip school.

“Sorry Stiles. We’ll talk later though!” With that, Scott let himself be pulled away, just leaving Stiles standing there.

* * *

 

The rest of the school day Stiles spent angry at Scott for blowing him off yet _again_ and furious at himself for thinking it would be all good and Scott would stay to listen to what happened with his dad, AKA Scott’s ‘father’. But no! Scott decided to fly off with Kira. Slamming his jeep door, Stiles drove home and then continued to slam the jeep door yet again and then the front door. He wasn’t reprimanded, meaning his dad was out. Taking his phone out of his pocket when he reached his bedroom, he smashed it across his desk and just left it there, not realizing it was dialing an emergency contact.

Stiles marched, in a sense, to his bathroom, pulling out the drawer with the razors in it harshly. Meticulously pulling apart a brand new razor, so the blades would be sharper, Stiles walked back into his room and sat down on the ground, his back to his bed.

“Dammit!” He yelled…no screamed in frustration and anger and pure hurt. Then, pulling the blade across his wrist, he conjured a small, bloody line to appear. Another, another, another; more and more just littered his wrist and eventually he stopped, feeling his emotions slowly slip away. Just sitting there, Stiles realized it would be best if he cleaned up, in case his dad arrives back soon. Standing up, Stiles got a rush of dizziness and he fell over. He hadn’t noticed how much blood he had lost, which was an overwhelming amount. “Help.” Stiles whispered the word just as he heard sirens coming down his road.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you :)


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Help.” Stiles whispered the word just as he heard sirens coming down his road.

Like all hospital scenes, it started with a sharp, highly annoying beeping sound. On the bed, Stiles laid motionless and while he was awake and very well aware of where he was, the refusal to make an acknowledgement was too strong. No. This wasn’t supposed to happen.

* * *

 

Currently unknown to Stiles, when the paramedics had gotten to his house and had stormed up the stairs, he was nearly dead. They had to pull out the EMT to start his heart, not once but twice; once in his bedroom and the other in the ambulance. He had also received two blood transfusions to make up for the amount of blood he had lost.

The next thing to do, as Stiles seemingly rested, was to calm down the crazed Sheriff who had, somehow, gotten to the hospital before they even arrived and had demanded to see his son. Ms. McCall had trouble getting him calmed but eventually got him to walk to a room with her. Once there, she (under his permission) gave him an anesthetic to let him sleep and calm his nerves for an hour or two. This was done as a friend, not a nurse.

The real problem though, was Scott and Lydia, both who were literally going berserk in their own ways. Scott because his best friend was in the hospital and nothing was being said, even his mom had refused to say the reason. Lydia because, while it’s platonic, she deeply cares for Stiles and can’t stop blaming herself. When Stiles and her were younger, they took similar classes and occasionally (more likely than not) sat next to each other. At the time, she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her. Stiles? No way. The kid was super energetic all the time and never stopped smiling. So, being true to her “dumb” personality, Lydia brushed it off; yet another thing to add to the list of things she regrets. While she was well aware of the fact Scott had no clue as to why Stiles was admitted, she at lead had the common sense to knot it wasn’t her place to tell him. It was Stiles’s place. That is, if the extremely pissed off and concerned werewolf Derek Hale didn’t rip the teenagers’ best friend in half first.

“How dare you!” Derek roared, as he had a ton of difficulty holding back his werewolf side.

“What do you mean?” Scott asked defensively.

“You’re just an idiot! Get out!”

“I’m not leaving Stiles!”  
“You didn’t seem to have a problem all those other times.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Scott’s heart skipped a beat.

“You’re a liar Scott and you know I can hear it.”

“Listen, you don’t know a thing about Stiles. You _hate_ us.”

“I don’t _hate_ you and I bet you anything I know Stiles way better than you do these days. Why don’t you just go back to Kira?” Derek sneered, distaste and disgust. Who would leave a best friend like that?

“She’s busy and she understands that I’m here for Stiles.” Scott bickered back.

“No you aren’t Scott,” Derek shook his head, “otherwise you would’ve known that he se—”

“Derek, just relax okay?” Lydia butted in with the tone of voice saying that if he went any farther, Derek would have to deal with her. He gave a brief nod and turned to the door which Stiles laid behind, ignoring the stare from Scott. Every thought running through Derek’s head was that Stiles was hurt.

* * *

 

It had been about another hour before a doctor came to see them.  “Are any of you directly related to Mr. Stilinski?”

“I’m his cousin, Lydia.” She gave a weak smile in attempt to show that the lie was real. The doctor bought it.

“I’m his boyfriend.” Derek said before anyone else could speak. “And while I’m not family, we’ve been dating for a few years now. I’m sure you can understand what it means to me if I’m there for him.” Hesitantly, the doctor nodded, oblivious to the _shocked_ faces of Lydia and Scott.

“Normally we don’t allow non-family members but this time…” the doctor looked around the hallway, “we’ll make an exception. It’s good for Mr. Stilinski to have people who love and care for him around.”

“I’m his brother.” Scott attempted but the doctor shook his head.

“Mr. McCall, your mother works her and has a photo of you on her desk. I’m sorry. Now if you wait just one moment, I need to go get Sheriff Stilinski.” The second the doctor turned the corner, the two teenagers turned on Derek.

“His _boyfriend?_ ” Derek rolled his eyes at their childish question.

“What else am I suppose to say?” A small, barely noticeable, blush arose on his cheeks and he turned away from the group. When the doctor came back with a yawning Sheriff, they all gathered in Stiles’s room. First off, Stiles couldn’t fool Derek, who knew that Stiles was awake and listening in on every word said. Second, Derek couldn’t concentrate on what the doctor was saying. His thoughts were concentrated on the fact that Stiles is awake which means he’s healing and that Stiles was in the hospital and that Stiles was lying on the blank, white hospital bed that made Derek uncomfortable. So when the doctor finished, apparently, talking, Derek just nodded. Forgetting that there were other people in the room, as he was so focused on Stiles and the growing need to be next to him, Derek immediately went to Stiles’s side (the doctor had left them alone at the moment for them to discuss plans). “Hey Stiles…” His voice was soft and it cracked a little on the end. “Don’t do that to me. You scared the living hell out of me and you know how much it takes for something to do that. I was terrified when I got the call from Lydia and she was freaking out. So don’t ever do that, not ever again. You hear me Stiles?” He leaned in closer to where only Stiles would be able to hear him. “I know you’re awake Stiles and I know very well you can hear me. So you listen to me and you listen well, when I say you can come to me about anything, I mean _anything._ I don’t mean for you to retreat back into yourself even farther and just ignore everything.” Derek leaned back and out of his peripheral vision, saw Lydia and Sheriff Stilinski staring at him. Then a movement caught his eye. Stiles’s hand twitched, as if it was reaching out for something to hold. Derek without delay put his hand in Stiles, ignoring the looks yet again. The touch seemed to give Stiles the strength to open his eyes and finally deal with reality.

“Hi.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading :)


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:
> 
> Stiles’s hand twitched, as if it was reaching out for something to hold. Derek without delay put his hand in Stiles, ignoring the looks yet again. The touch seemed to give Stiles the strength to open his eyes and finally deal with reality.
> 
> “Hi.”

If there could be words to describe the shocked faces of the three people in the room with Stiles, they wouldn’t suffice. Lydia sat down and clutched at her chest in both disbelief and relief. Sheriff Stilinski started tearing up as he made his way over to where Stiles was lying. And Derek? Derek fell out of the chair he was in. Then after the shock was over with and as no words were said, they hugged Stiles (carefully as to not touch his arms). Stiles, however, didn’t hug back. First off, he didn’t think he could lift his arms if he wanted to from the morphine effects. Second because Stiles just couldn’t. Why was Lydia here? Why was Derek here? How was his dad going to react? Where’s Scott? On the last question, Stiles grimaced a little but shook it off when he reasoned that Scott was most likely with Kira.

“How are you?” The Sheriff warily asked only after everyone visiting had sat down. They all looked at Stiles intently.

“I’m good.” Stiles smiled.

“Bullshit.” Before even Derek could talk, Lydia called him out on the lie. It doesn’t even matter who was or wasn’t a werewolf; the lie could’ve been seen by even the most oblivious person…well besides Scott. Stiles winced before slightly nodding.

“I’m working on it.” He cautiously restated.

“Why wouldn’t you talk to me?” The hurt look on his father’s face made Stiles move his hands to his lap, despite the ache, and started fiddling with his fingers. “Stiles.” His name was said forcefully, trying to elicit a response.

“I couldn’t do that to you. You just lost mom and –”

“Hold up. This has been happening since your mother passed away?” Sheriff Stilinski’s face twisted in a mix of guilt, remorse, and perhaps terror. Stiles stole a glance at Derek, who just nodded at him to continue. The fiddling of the fingers continued as Stiles started to speak.

“Yeah…I just…I didn’t want to hurt you anymore so I kept it to myself.”

“So you decided to hurt yourself? What if you went to deep, like this time, and there was no one around to help? Ever thought of how much that would hurt your friends? How much it would devastate me?” While the Sheriff’s voice was rising in power, in maintained a steady tone.

“Yes! All the time.” Stiles’s face hardened and he made the decision to finally look at his dad.

“Then _why?_ ”

“Because I could!” He yelled, causing Derek to move closer to him. It was then that the Sheriff realized something.

“Derek,” the man snapped, causing Derek to jump a little, “we need to talk.” Derek shot a look at Stiles in concern but all Stiles did was nod at him, encouraging him to go see what his dad wanted. “Lydia,” the Sheriff’s voice softened a little, “can you stay here? And I don’t know why Scott isn’t in here, but I’m sure I’ll get the story later so I’m just going to leave it at that.” As the two men got closer to the door, Sheriff Stilinski grabbed the upper arm of Derek and dragged him out. Sure, Derek could _easily_ get away, but he wasn’t sure that it would help the situation. The two walked in silence, or rather Stiles’ father walked quickly while pulling Derek along, until they had gotten to an empty surgery room. “What the hell do you know?” Sheriff Stilinski shoved Derek back.

“I don’t know what you mean.” Derek snarled back.

“You’re not freaking out about this so that means you already knew. How?” Stilinski narrowed his eyes at the werewolf, not sure as to the emotions he was feeling at the moment.

“He told me, or rather I found out and he decided to tell me.”

“And you didn’t think to tell me?”

“First off you had a heart attack so excuse me for trying to give you time to get it together and second off, that would be betraying Stiles’s fragile trust.” Derek snapped, straightening his black leather jacket out.

“You could’ve told me when you took me out yesterday to watch over me.” The Sheriff argued right back, “and yes, I’m well aware of the fact that Stiles sent you to look out for me.”

“I was going to convince him to tell you…” A heavy sigh came from Derek and the tension in the room seemed to break.

“Listen,” the reply was quiet, “I know you have feelings for Stiles. It’s as plain as day and I’m not even going to warn you about ‘being careful’ because I know you’re old enough to know what’s right and wrong. He’s just….he’s my son and trust me when I say that if you hurt him, I’ll borrow some wolfsbane bullets from the Argents and shoot the crap out of you.” Seeing that Derek was in agreement, the Sheriff pointed to the door. “Let’s go back.”

* * *

 

“Hey Lydia…” Stiles softly said as his father and Derek left the room.

“Hiya Stiles.” Lydia smiled, despite the fact that all she wanted to do was break down in tears.

“So, how are you?”

“I’m good, don’t worry about me. I just….I wish I said something earlier.” If the reason why they were at the hospital weren’t so serious, Lydia would laugh at the confused face Stiles was giving her. Instead, her face just showed how upset she was. “I….when we were younger we would sit next to each other and one day I saw something. I thought it was just a trick of the mind and I didn’t press it. I sho—should’ve.” Lydia broke down crying, hiding her face on the hospital bed. “I’m so sor—sorry.” Stiles moved his wrist to Lydia’s soft, strawberry blonde hair and, in a non-creepy way, pet it.

“It’s alright Lydia….I don’t blame you.” She sniffed and lifted up to stare at Stiles, not caring for how she looks at the moment.

“But you should.”

“I don’t.” Stiles insisted. They stayed quiet for a few minutes as Lydia just held Stiles’s hand in hers. Breaking the silence, Stiles asked a question that’s been on his mind since he woke up. “How’d I get here?”

“You accidently called Isaac. He called freaking out, saying that he called the police. I had to talk him down from the start of a panic attack. Every since,” Lydia winced a little but continued on, “Allison died, he’s been overly worried about everyone else.”

“When I threw my phone, it called Isaac?” Lydia nodded, confirming the question. “So where is he?”

“He went for a run….a really long run. You got to understand that the thought of losing another person near him was overwhelming and he had to let off some energy.” Stiles had a thoughtful look to his face.

“Can you call him? I wanna talk to him.” Standing up, Lydia took her phone out of her back pocket and gave a small smile before stepping out of the room to give the teen wolf a call. A few minutes passed before Derek came back in with his father. Derek’s face was a blank board, which was a disappointment to Stiles because he was insanely curious as to why his father had dragged the werewolf out of his hospital room and why the werewolf had allowed it to even happen.

“So…” Sheriff Stilinski patted Stiles’s right foot. “We need to talk about what’s going to happen next.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”  The most obvious lie was quickly said, as Stiles refused to look at his dad and Derek in the eye. Lydia still had not returned from the hallway after calling Isaac.

“Stiles…” warned Sheriff Stilinski.

“Nothing’s going to happen Dad. We’re all just going to go back to the way things were before. You’re going to go back to working overtime and I’ll get back to causing trouble.”   Stiles rambled on, trying so desperately to avoid the inevitable conversation. His dad started going red in the face from frustration and irritation. Derek though skipped the gun in yelling at Stiles.

“This isn’t funny Stiles! We’re trying to help you and we can’t if you don’t let us in.” Stiles looked up, shock being so evidently clear on his face. Sure the sourwolf had yelled at him before but never with so much _emotion_. Stiles couldn’t remember seeing that level of sentiment and he just...broke under it.  He started crying and Stiles brought his hands up to cover his face. His father and Derek were immediately at his side, only Derek muttering small words of comfort while the Sheriff just rubbed his back.

“I’m—” Stiles sobbed, “sor—sorry.” Lydia came crashing in with Isaac on her heals.

“Stiles!” There was a relief look on her face when she saw him still on the bed. “Sorry, Isaac heard you crying and—” Wiping his eyes, Stiles softly smiled.

“Isaac!” He said cheerfully, which caused the Sheriff and Derek to look at each other in questioning glazes at how quickly Stiles changed emotion. Maybe it had something to do with dealing with another person (or in this case two) in the room? Maybe he didn’t want to look weak? Either way Isaac shifted his weight from one foot to another, clearly having difficulties replying back to the change in Stiles’s demeanor.

“He-hey.” Isaac looked down at his feet. The last time he had heard Stiles’s voice was when he had whispered help onto the phone. The last time he heard Stiles was when he was hurting himself. Thinking about the phone call brought tears to Isaac’s eyes and he closed them in order to help them not fall. He was here for Stiles, not how hurt he was feeling.

“Isaac?” There it was again; the change in emotion in Stiles’s voice. This time it was of slight worry and concern, trying to figure out what Isaac was doing. Taking a deep, shaky breath, Isaac looked up at the human teenager. Stiles could see how torn up Isaac was, and it might have to do with how he knows how it feels to be broken (he’s in the hospital right now isn’t he?), and saw the tears threatening to fall from the teen wolf’s eyes. “Isaac,” he said gentler now, “come here.” Stiles gave his dad a look, hoping he would understand what he was doing. His dad moved away a few inches allowing Isaac to walk right next to the bed. Isaac brought a hand up to his eyes, ignoring how stupid he must look in front of Lydia, Derek, and the Sheriff. All he could tell was that Stiles was helping him when he wasn’t the one who needed the support. “Isaac,” the teenager said his name again, “you can hug me.” Slowly nodding, Isaac sat next to Stiles and just leaned on him. It wasn’t until he heard Stiles say his name and shushing him that Isaac realized he was crying. Wasn’t this exactly what Stiles was doing a few minutes ago, expect the situation was reversed and Isaac wasn’t the one comforting him? After calming down just a little, Isaac pulled away and frowned.

“I’m sorry. This was supposed to be about you and I kind of just ruined it.” Stiles gave him a small smile.

“No. It was my fault you had to hear what happened in such a way. I should be the one who’s sorry Isaac. I should be sorry for so many things.” His voice broke on the word ‘many’, but Stiles kept going. “I’m sorry for you hearing me the other night. I’m sorry for avoiding you aft—after All—Allison. I’m sorry for just barely getting along with you before that because I was convinced you and Derek had something evil planned for Scott. I’m sorry that even before that I never talked to you.” Stiles started rambling on about other things he was sorry about and the group just let him, knowing how much Stiles needed to just let everything go. It was a while, but they all seemed to get comfortable in the room (Lydia pulling up a chair as well as Isaac and his dad returning to his spot next to Stiles while Derek remained fixated on Stiles) and give assuage whenever words would get too much. There was no doubt that Stiles would’ve continued going but Mrs. McCall came in, closing the door behind her.

“Hi Stiles.”

“Hey Mrs. McCall.” She smiled and walked right up to him, motioning Derek to move.

“I need to check your vitals.” He nodded. So she was here for nurse duties, which was completely understandable seeing as he was in a hospital. “How’re you feeling?” She asked as she checked his heart rate. Her eyes bore into his, telling him that he wouldn’t be able to lie because she would just _know._

“I feel a lot better. I’ve been talking their ears off for hours now. I’m surprised no one’s stopped me.” Stiles was half joking, half serious. Mrs. McCall pulled the stethoscope out of her ears, secured it around her neck, and then clasped Stiles left hand in hers.

“Scott wants to come in an—”  
“No.” Derek’s answer was immediate and harsh as he shook his head. Stiles sent him a look saying he could speak for himself. He watched as Derek clenched his jaw several times, remaining quiet. Turning back to the person who represented a mom to him since his mother passed away, Stiles hesitantly nodded.

“Stiles,” she warned, “I don’t want you to do anything that you aren’t comfortable with.”

“No, I need to get this over with.” She gripped his hand one last time before standing up, which allowed Derek to go back to where he was sitting, and opening the door. One motion of her hand and Scott came tumbling through the door, tripping and hitting the floor.

“Ow…” he groaned for a second before standing straight up and staring at Stiles with wide-eyes. “You’re awake man! No one would tell me what was happening. What’s wrong? What’s with the bandages on your arm? I was so worr—”

“Bullshit.” Derek stood up and backed Scott into a wall. Immediately Lydia, Isaac and the Sheriff were pulling back on him from doing anything. While Lydia and Isaac had no clue as to why Derek was going after Scott with such a violent nature, Stiles’s dad had a clue as to what was happening and though he wanted to have a talk with Scott himself, it would be better if Stiles went first. Scott was still clinging onto the wall, completely oblivious to what was happening. As the three ushered Derek out, Stiles’s dad gave Stiles once last look and nod before closing the door.

“What was that about?” Scott asked, ruffling his hair back into place.

“I should’ve done this months ago…we need to talk.” Stiles said seriously and without much emotion.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! :)


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:
> 
> “What was that about?” Scott asked, ruffling his hair back into place. 
> 
> “I should’ve done this months ago…we need to talk.” Stiles said seriously and without much emotion.

Nervously, Scott walked to the chair to the right of Stiles, hesitating every few steps and keeping his eyes steady on Stiles. When Stiles watched him sit, an intense silence filled the air, so tense that a knife wouldn’t be able to cut it. “So…” Scott started to say, but was cut off by Stiles holding a hand up.

“Scott, this is when it’s your turn to listen to me, not the other way around. You’re going to sit there and listen to every word I say until I’m done. And when I’m done, you can either accept what I say or walk out. Understood?” Stiles had a deadly scowl on his face, which made it seem like he was taking lessons from Derek on how to look like a sourwolf. When Scott opened his mouth to say something, the scowl got darker and caused Scott to shut his mouth. “Good.” Sharply nodding, Stiles sat upright (ignoring the pain of leaning on his wrapped wrist) and turned so his legs loosely hung off the hospital bed.

“When it first happened, I ignored it because I could understand. When it happened next, I ignored it because I understood. When it happened after that, I still ignored it because I knew why. But it just kept happening and maybe _some_ part of me argued that you would figure out what was happening and put a stop to it. It kept happening though and I just….I should’ve talked to you about it.” A look of confusion was shot his way, making Stiles more upset and angry. “Every time you blew me off for Allison, and now Kira, it’s like Gerald hitting me and tazering me. It’s like the bout of sudden, intense fear every time I get a panic attack, but it’s not fear, it’s pain. Because, I mean, what happened to ‘bros before hoes’ man? What happened to when we would stick it together instead of splitting up? What happened to not lying? Trust me dude, I _know_ every time you call and you’re with Kira and you say that you’re sick or that something came up or that you want to spend time with your mom because she feels lonely. I don’t need to be a werewolf to smell the bullshit!” By now, Stiles voice had increased in volume but remained at the same, steady tempo. If Scott didn’t know better, he would say the Nogitsune was back.

“Man, I’m—”

“Don’t interrupt me!” Stiles yelled. At this point, Stiles didn’t care if they could hear him out in the hallway, as long as the words and meaning got through Scott’s thick head, he just didn’t care. “I’ve been a good friend Scott, the best. I was there when your father and mother broke off. I was there when you broke your damn arm while jumping off a swing. I was there through every stupid dare and asthma attack. _Me_ ; not Allison or Kira, me. I was there when you became a werewolf and didn’t have a clue as to what to do. I was there.” Stiles took a small break to catch his breath, pinching his nose bridge much like his father did. “Every since you’ve gotten bitten, the only time I felt like you were really there for me was when I was getting an MRI scan for dementia. And frankly it sucks Scott.”

“I’m s—”

“Scott!” The teen wolf jumped in slight terror, he had never heard Stiles raise his voice so high to yell at someone. Stiles ignored the frightened look on his former best-friend’s face and stood up, also ignoring the fact that Lydia and Isaac had come running in. “Do you even get what I’m saying? I’m saying that you’re not my best friend. You haven’t been for a while now. So here’s the deal,” Stiles brought his voice down a few notches, “you’re either going to get better at becoming a better friend or you just leave me the hell alone because I don’t need an unreliable person in my life. Okay?” A washed out look came onto Stiles’s face, as if the anger had just given up and left, taking all the energy away with it. He nodded his head as if to tell Scott he could talk now.

“I’m sorry Stiles, I really am.” Scott stood up and looked into Stiles’s eyes for a sign of forgiveness, as if it would be that easy, as if six words would just cure the months of pain and sadness. An inch taller than Scott, Stiles didn’t exactly look down upon the teen wolf, but rather glowered at him.

“Six words? That’s all you have to say? Just _six_ words?” Out of the corner of his eye, Stiles saw Lydia and Isaac take a few steps closer and inside his head, he was relieved that at least they understood in some aspect as to why Stiles was mad.

“I’ll try to be a better friend. I can’t believe I didn’t see I was doing it.” As if to make the situation worse, Scott’s phone started ringing, the tune of ‘Love Drunk’, meaning that Kira was calling. Speak of the devil (in this case)….Scott looked at Stiles and then down at his pocket. If that wasn’t aggravating, especially since what they were just talking about, Stiles didn’t know what was. Curling his wrist on which he didn’t harm, Stiles pulled his shoulder back and threw all his weight into his punch. A loud cracking sound came from Scott’s nose and a rush of pleasure ran though Stiles though he knew it would heal in minutes.

“Just leave Scott. Don’t come back.” The look of shock on Scott’s face was….well it couldn’t be described. Scott realized that Isaac and Lydia were both waiting for him to move out the door and thus, realized that he screwed up big time. Stumbling out the door, Scott left. Stiles, on the other hand, was caught by Isaac went he stuttered in his steps.

“Stiles! Are you alright?” The distress and anguish was clear on Isaac’s face when Stiles looked up at the tall kid.

“Set him down.” Stiles heard Lydia order, but it seemed fuzzy like all of his other senses. He barely felt him being set down on the sheets and just scarcely felt Lydia’s hands on his face. “Stiles…Stiles….you’re in a small state of shock and I need you to snap out of it.” When Stiles was still blanking out on how to move his mouth to answer her, Lydia smacked him, not hard enough to leave a bruise. Wildly looking up, Stiles seemed to come back down from whatever state he was in.

“I’m fine. I just—I can’t believe I did that.” A soft smile was on Isaac’s face and Lydia was just starting to grin. She leaned forward and kissed his forehead.

“He deserved it.” Just then, Isaac made a funny face.

“What?” Stiles questioned.

“I don’t think his nose will be healing anytime soon.” Seconds after he said it, Derek and his father came into his room, Derek shaking his hand out. Stiles’s eyes widened in surprise as he realized that Derek must’ve punched Scott.

“Now that _that’s_ out of the way, let’s talk about what’s going to happen.” Stiles’s dad sat down where Scott was sitting moments ago. Stiles sighed but moved his head in agreement.

“Alright then; first off, you need help or at least someone to talk to.” Opening his mouth to defend, he was wacked upside the head by Derek. His dad ignored it and continued. “Also there is going to be daily checks of your wrists and once I deem it fit, it’ll change to weekly checks, and then so on and so forth. We will _not_ be sending you to Eichen House; not after what….happened.” The Sheriff uncomfortably squirmed in his seat before continuing. “No razors or knives or anything that you can hurt yourself with, and I trust that you’ll tell me if something would be a potential weapon. And I’m well aware of the fact that I can’t make you stop helping the pack, aka putting yourself into danger, so therefore I’m telling Derek that every time I’m not at home, he’s responsible for you.” That put everyone into a small shock but Lydia and Isaac quickly snapped out of it, leaving only Stiles and Derek himself in surprise.

“Me?”

“Yes you.” Stiles’s dad rolled his eyes. “You’re the leader of the pack, I don’t care if Scott is a true-alpha or not. You’re the adult and thus you get Stiles as your responsibility. Plus I don’t think Scott and Stiles are in a good friendship at the moment.” The Sheriff looked at Stiles for confirmation and a small twitch of his son’s head gave it. “Lydia and Isaac, please watch out for him at school. I don’t know if anything’s been happening but I can’t always be there and Derek probably shouldn’t be on school grounds.”

“You got it sir.” Isaac immediately agreed. Lydia, twirling on a piece of her strawberry blonde hair, shook her head in harmony.

“Good. One last thing though….” He looked Stiles dead in the eye, “you need to start talking and I mean talk…ramble…anything. I know we don’t talk about….” a small cough came from the Sheriff, “her but I’m…” This time when Stiles began to talk, no one stopped him.

“Dad.” His voice cracked. “You don’t have to. I know it’s painful.” From the side of the bed, Lydia watched as tears began to show in Stiles’s eyes but never fell.

“No,” Sheriff Stilinski shook his head. “It’s been a couple years…I shou—should be able to talk about it. Who knows? It might help me too.” A soft, forced smile appeared on his face. Standing up, Stiles’s father kissed his son on his forehead before walking over to the door. “I need to talk to the doctor’s about how this is going to work. I’ll be back shortly and we’ll go home.” Stiles smiled a little, but as soon as his father left, the smile dropped.

“I’m sorry guys.” He whispered.

“Just don’t do it again.” Isaac replied as he visibly relaxed back into the chair he was sitting in with his legs sprawled out in front on him and his hands resting on his stomach. As Lydia glanced back and forth between the two teenage boys in front of her, she rolled her eyes, stood up, and grabbed Derek by his arm.

“We’ll be right back with food.” Before anyone could agree or disagree or anything, the two were out the door. Silence settled on the two boys in the room, both switching back and forth from opening their mouth to say something and then closing it. Finally, Stiles found the ability to speak.

“Thank you Isaac….for calling.”

“It’s no problem really….” Isaac trailed off as, once again, the memory dashed through his head. He broke out of his small trance when Stiles began shaking his head.

“It is a problem man…you _heard_ my attempt. You _heard_ everything that was going on and you live so far away that you couldn’t have done anything because by the time you would’ve got there, I’d’ve bee-been dea-dead.” Stiles brought his palms up to his eyes and wiped away the tears starting to fall again. He had done so much crying today and it was getting tiring.

“I did hear…” the teen wolf started off so softly that Stiles had to listen really carefully in order to hear him, “I heard the pain, the anguish. I heard the hate and hurt. I heard everything.”

“Come here.” Stiles tenderly demanded Isaac. Isaac let out a small whimper-like sound, but it was mostly due to the fact that he was emotionally breaking inside. Scooting over, Stiles patted the spot next to him which Isaac eagerly took, curling up next to him. Stiles, ignoring the small twinge of pain, moved his left arm to wrap around Isaac. Sure, Isaac wasn’t a ‘baby’ or ‘child’ but he was one of the youngest of the wolves and with what he had to go through as a child, Stiles thought he deserved some comfort from the panic attack he might’ve given Isaac the night before. The two laid there in silence.

* * *

Right before Derek stepped through the doorway, he had a predisposition of what had happened. Sure enough, as he stepped through the door (with a small white container of food for Stiles) he saw the two (Isaac and Stiles) next to each other on the hospital bed sleeping, which made sense because when a pack member gets hurt, the other wolves provide comfort and help. Quietly he ushered Lydia, who was standing impatiently behind him, back. When she gave him a questioning look, he told her they were asleep. She smiled and sat in a nearby chair, motioning for him to do the same.

“So…” Lydia began just as he put a slice of his sandwich in his mouth, “you like Stiles.” The fact that it was a statement and not a question, made Derek start to choke. After he was able to breath, he stared wide-eyed at her.

“You know?” This in turn, caused a classic Lydia eye roll.

“The whole town knows Derek.” Seeing his slightly alarmed reaction, she set her hand on his wrist. “I’m kidding Derek.” He seemed to relax, prompting Lydia to continue. “But anyone who knows both of you can clearly see that you care about each other.”

“Wait…what?”

“You heard me Derek Hale. Stiles likes you. Why else would he keep you above water for a little over two hours? Why else would he try and comfort you on several occasions? Why else would he continue to place himself in danger for you?”

“I thought he was doing it for Scott.” Derek reasoned.

“Derek you’re an idiot. Has anyone ever told you that? It started off because of Scott becoming a werewolf but it became clear pretty quickly that he started being interested in you.” Lydia picked up a piece of her own cheddar and lettuce sandwich and started to eat.

“But he liked you?”

“I was his cover story. I knew for years that Stiles was bisexual so maybe, in a way, he did have a huge crush on me but I just _knew_ that he leaned more towards guys. I didn’t see any problem with it.” She shrugged and continued eating.

“Huh.” Derek huffed before leaning back against the uncomfortable hospital chair, forgetting all about the sandwich in his lap.

 


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scott's POV

Scott will probably never forget when he got the phone call from Lydia, saying that Stiles was in the hospital, especially since no reason was give. The last time Stiles was actually in the hospital for some sort of physical cause was when they were giving him a brain scan for dementia. And the time before that was when Stiles’s mother was in the hospital. Rarely is Stiles ever so sick that he needs to go. Sure Stiles would get the occasional flu, but that’s the extent to how severe Stiles got ill. So Scott jumped up for Kira’s bed, kissed Kira goodbye, got on his crotch rocket, speeding to the hospital.

When he arrived Scott hesitated before walking in. True he had been lying to Stiles recently but Stiles seemed to be fine. Guiltily Scott walked through the doors. He wasn’t stupid; he had a….intuition that Stiles knew what he was really doing. _I’m sick._ The stupidest excuse he could possibly come up with…his new immune system wouldn’t allow for petty colds or the flu. As he walked up to the front desk, Scott noticed his mom running her hands through her hair, something she did when she was upset.

“Hey mom…” He came up behind her and gave her a hug. Startled, Melissa jumped a little but relaxed quickly when she realized it was her son.

“How’d you find out?” Melissa softly asked.

“Lydia called me. Where is he?” She nodded to a room a few doors down. “Why is he here?” A dark look crossed his mothers’ face.

“That’s up to him to tell you.” Scott was tremendously confused. What had put Stiles into the hospital that even his _mom_ refused to say anything. He broke out of his daze when his mother took him by the arm and walked him to the room Stiles was in, before walking away after telling him that he can’t go in just yet. Watching his mother for a while Scott saw a distraught Sheriff come in and his mother take him to a room nearby. Sighing in frustration, Scott ran his hands through his hair himself. A few seconds after he had did so, Derek and Lydia came from the hospital entrance with alarm and concern etched onto their faces. In his head, Scott made a mental note to ask Stiles why Derek was here and why he was so….worried because Scott honestly couldn’t remember the last time he had seen the two together.

“You!” Derek head straight for him and right as he was about to duck out of the way, Derek grabbed his jacket and slammed him against the wall. Narrowing his eyes, Scott pushed back on him.

“Me!” Just as he was about to punch Derek, Lydia stepped in,

“Calm it guys! We’re here for Stiles, not you two.” The three went into their own worlds as they waited for the doctor to come. Derek just sat down and was quiet. Lydia was pacing back and forth, waving her hand in front of her face from time to time as if to calm herself. Scott, though, just stood in the same place, not sure how to act. He was trying to come up with reasonable explanations as to why _no one_ was telling him how Stiles got hurt. Running his hands through his hair again, Scott huffed and sat down two chairs away from the deemed sourwolf. Then there seemed to be another violent reaction to something, because Derek went off on him again.

“How dare you!”

“What do you mean?” Scott asked defensively.

“You’re just an idiot! Get out!” To this Scott took offense; here he was with no one telling him what was happening with Stiles and Derek was calling him an idiot.

“I’m not leaving Stiles!”  
“You didn’t seem to have a problem all those other times.” He didn’t show it, but Scott was confused as to how Derek knew about the fact that he had occasionally skipped out on seeing Stiles because he wanted to spend some time with Kira.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Scott’s heart skipped a beat as the guilt started to soak in a little.

“You’re a liar Scott and you know I can hear it.”

“Listen, you don’t know a thing about Stiles. You _hate_ us.”

“I don’t _hate_ you and I bet you anything I know Stiles way better than you do these days. Why don’t you just go back to Kira?” Derek sneered at him.

“She’s busy and she understands that I’m here for Stiles.” Scott bickered back.

“No you aren’t Scott,” Derek shook his head, “otherwise you would’ve known that he se—”

“Derek, just relax okay?” Lydia butted in with the tone of voice saying that if either one didn’t stop, she would deal with them. Glaring at Derek, Scott sat down and just waited.

* * *

 

About an hour passed before a doctor came to see them.  “Are any of you directly related to Mr. Stilinski?”

“I’m his cousin, Lydia.”

“I’m his boyfriend and while I’m not family, we’ve been dating for a few years now. I’m sure you can understand what it means to me if I’m there for him.” Hesitantly, the doctor nodded, oblivious to the _shocked_ faces of Lydia and Scott.

“Normally we don’t allow non-family members but this time…” the doctor looked around the hallway, “we’ll make an exception. It’s good for Mr. Stilinski to have people who love and care for him around.”

“I’m his brother.” Scott attempted but the doctor shook his head. Right away, Scott had a fire burning in his stomach. How could _Derek_ be allowed but not him?

“Mr. McCall, your mother works here and has a photo of you on her desk. I’m sorry. Now if you wait just one moment, I need to go get Sheriff Stilinski.” The second the doctor turned the corner, the two teenagers turned on Derek.

“His _boyfriend?_ ” Derek rolled his eyes at their childish question.

“What else am I suppose to say?” Just as Scott was about to say something, the doctor came back and ushered the three allowed people inside to see Stiles, leaving Scott just hanging there. What the hell was going on? Annoyed, Scott threw his helmet down, ignoring all the glares from people nearby. He would’ve kicked the chair for good measure as well but the doctor came back out.

“When can I go in?” All the doctor did was shake his head.

“Not right now.”

* * *

 

The next time Scott saw Lydia was when she came out with her phone to her ear, waiting for someone to answer on the other line, just a few minutes after the Sheriff had pulled Derek out of the room. She shot him a look before turning her back on him and tapping her foot impatiently. Seeing as he had nothing to do at the moment besides wait, Scott decided to listen in on the conversation.

“Hey, it’s me.” Scott faintly heard the reply but got out that whoever it was, was asking how Stiles was. “He’s doing okay. He wants you to come over.” A little protesting started but eventually the person who Lydia was talking to agreed. “Great! I’ll see you in a few minutes.” She hung up before there was a reply. Turning on her heal (which was an inch or two today), Lydia walked over and promptly sat down in the scratchy hospital chair next to him. “What’s going on Scott?” Her question was soft, with a kind of sighing tone.

“You mean besides the fact that I can’t see my best friend, who by the way is in the hospital for a reason that nobody will tell me, or besides the fact that _everyone_ seems to know something I don’t?” He snarled, not knowing how else to say the words.

“I’ll give in a word for you but you have to promise me something.”

“Anything.”

“You have to listen to him.” The look of confusion given in her direction was lost to her as she turned just in time to see Isaac come in through the hospital doors.

“Isaac?” The teen wolf’s eyes were red from crying, but he managed to walk down the hallway and into Lydia’s outstretched arms for a hug. As they held each other, Scott was keenly attuned to what was happening inside the room. There was a sudden loud sob, that even Lydia heard, which caused Isaac and Lydia to rush inside. Scott would’ve followed if not for Lydia pushing him back, with both her hand and a stern look. Groaning, Scott started to pace. Minutes passed, though it seemed like an hour, when Scott saw his mom walking down the hallway. Melissa looked at her son and shook her head, before she opened Stiles’s door and walked into his room, leaving Scott by himself again. Kicking his chair once again, Scott sat down. He was almost completely zoned out when his mom opened the door and made a motion with her hand for Scott to come in. Scott almost ran, tumbling through the door, tripping and hitting the floor.

“Ow…” he groaned for a second before standing straight up and staring at Stiles with wide-eyes. “You’re awake man! No one would tell me what was happening. What’s wrong? What’s with the bandages on your arm? I was so worr—”

“Bullshit.” Derek stood up and backed Scott into a wall.

* * *

 

**After Stiles and Scott talked**

* * *

 

Scott looked at the phone in his hands, before chucking it against a nearby tree, smashing it to pieces. “ _Why!_ ” He screamed, knowing that no one for miles would be able to hear him. Putting his hands on his head, Scott fell to the ground and just cried. How could he do this to Stiles….to _Stiles_? He stayed out there, switching back and forth from ruining trees and just crying, until the sun had almost completely set. It was decided, he was going to work harder and he was going to be better. Wasn’t that his goal the summer before Allison passed away; to be a better friend?


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:
> 
> “I was his cover story. I knew for years that Stiles was bisexual so maybe, in a way, he did have a huge crush on me but I just knew that he leaned more towards guys. I didn’t see any problem with it.” She shrugged and continued eating. 
> 
> “Huh.” Derek huffed before leaning back against the uncomfortable hospital chair, forgetting all about the sandwich in his lap.

As the sun was going down, its vibrant colors painted the sky and its rays of light washed through the window, causing the hospital room to glow. When Stiles started to wake up, he noticed how the room was dramatically different in tone. Trying to move his arm, Stiles realized it was stuck under a mop of curly blonde hair. Carefully moving his head to get a better angle to rest his head, his jaw line hit Issac in the ear, causing the werewolf to stir a little. Stiles stilled and waited for Isaac to fall back asleep. He didn’t have to wait long but he was surprised when the teen wolf seemed to snuggle closer. Smiling, Stiles rested his head on Isaac’s; not in an ‘I love you’ manner but more in a comforting, friend-like manner. Stiles just stared into space as the clock ticked by. There was a soft knock on the door before it creaked open. Immediately Stiles put his free hand to his lips to signal to be quiet.

“Hey,” the newcomer, Derek, softly said as a smile appeared on the sourwolf’s face. Derek closed the door, crossed the room, and sat on Stiles’s free side. Stiles held out his free hand for Derek to take, which he gladly did.

“Hiya Derek,” he quietly responded, squeezing Derek’s hand. “What’s up?” Derek was silent for a few minutes, looking down and up a couple times.

“You scared me, you know that right?” Derek talked downward, avoiding Stiles’s eyes and turning Stiles’s hands over with his own.

“Derek, I—”

“No, you’ve talked but now it’s my turn and I really need you to listen.” There was a small pleading sound in Derek’s voice which made Stiles pause in surprise, then nodded. “Good. So,” Not expecting Stiles to actually agree, Derek had to take a second to think about what he was going to say. “you scared me and I really hope you know that. I’ve felt fear before but this was just like losing P-p-Pai-Paige again and I can’t lose you. Maybe right now I can’t explain to you why, but I _need_ you to understand that you can’t do anything like that again. Look at me,” Derek sniffled, “sharing feelings. What has this pack done to me?” The werewolf put his head on the bed, next to Stiles’s hand. Seconds later, he felt Stiles pull his hand away and then felt his hair being ruffled.

“It’s alright, you don’t have to say any more, I understand.” Stiles’s voice was a whisper that seemed to just…float in the air. “I won’t do it again, Derek…I promise.” The grip on his hair tightened as Stiles seemed to crack a little at the end. Grabbing Stiles’s wrist and gently taking it off of his hair, Derek looked up.

“I know. I never seem to have to say anything. You just know.” The two stared at each other for a while, just smiling at each other and enjoying one another’s presence. Meanwhile, Isaac was just starting to actually wake up from the nap. He peeked, rolling his eyes when he saw the two just sitting there. While he loved the closeness of being near Stiles, he probably should get up and get something to eat.

“Oh get a room you two!” Isaac said, before yawning. His voice scared the two, causing them to snap out of the staring contest they were in.

* * *

 

Much to Stiles’s disappointment he had to stay the night, but much to his delight, Isaac was staying with him. “Dude, you have no idea how glad I am that you’re staying.” Stiles stated just as everyone had left to go back home. Isaac laughed and started to sit down, only to be interrupted. “Come up here, it’s a lot more comfortable than those chairs.” Like he did earlier, Stiles moved to the side to give Isaac some room. Nothing was said as they both just lied there, both content with just being near each other.

“Hey Stiles?” Isaac whispered.

“Yeah?”

“Do you like Derek?” If Stiles was drinking water, it would’ve been spat out. He was _not_ expecting that question from the pups’ mouth.

“Um….” Stiles shifted a little.

“Because you know he’s totally infatuated with you, right?”  Isaac turned his head to looked at the gobsmacked Stiles.

“What? No he doesn’t. Sure he came to the hospital and he’s been more annoying with me being near danger and he throws me in the wall from time to time and….” A realization crossed Stiles, “oh my god.” The three words caused Isaac to start laughing, which Stiles joined in after a minute. After they stopped, Isaac asked his question again.

“So do you like him?” Despite it being almost pitch black in the room, Isaac’s eyes say Stiles blush before starting to shake his head. “Oh you _so_ like him.” Isaac poked Stiles’s side.

“You don’t…mind do you?”

“If I did, why would I ask?” While Stiles’s eyes aren’t up to werewolf’s standards, he could see the smirk covering Isaac’s face. Bringing his hand up, he lightly pushed Isaac’s face away. That seemed to be it for the conversation as they both fell back into the silence. The tick-tock noise of the clock was the only other sound, besides the occasional nurse walking by but it was infrequent. It was about a half hour later when Isaac seemed to curl up against him. Feeling that the teen wolf was about to go to sleep, Stiles figured he out to get comfortable as well because if Isaac falls asleep, there’s no way he can move. Just before closing his eyes (and at least try to see if sleep was possible), Stiles whispered.

“Thanks Isaac.”

“You’re welcome mom.” Though the name gave off the hint that he was more girly than Derek, which he most certainly _was_ _not,_ Stiles smiled. Pretty soon after that, Isaac’s breathing evened out. At that moment….that’s when Stiles let the thoughts get to him. What if everyone gives up? What if his dad decides he doesn’t want a son that self harms? What if his dad kicks him out? Where would he go? What if Derek really doesn’t like him and it’s all a joke? What if they’re just doing this out of pity but in their heads, they hate him for living? What if….the questions racing through his head were cut off as Isaac buried his head closer to Stiles’s neck, as if he was trying to give reassurance…as if Isaac could tell the panic-inducing thoughts chasing around. Falling into the comfort given to him, Stiles effortlessly fell asleep.

* * *

 

“Rise and shine son!” Rubbing his head, Stiles sat up to the bed cold on the other side and his father holding a bag out for him. Yawning, Stiles attempted to speak.

“Where’s Is-aac?”

“I told him to go to school, said you’d be fine and he could come over right afterward. Though knowing him, he’ll skip seventh, maybe sixth, to come earlier.” John laughed a little before sitting down. “Go get changed and then I’ll take you home.” Excited to go back into his comfort zone and noticing that his IV was already gone (the nurse probably came in while he was sleeping after hearing how much he _hates_ needles), Stiles hopped off the bed, regained his balance a little, and went into the bathroom to change. Under seven minutes later, would’ve been earlier if he had not reflected on the little scars on his arm, Stiles walked out of the bathroom with a large grin on his face.

“Home sweet home!”

* * *

 

“I have your homework for you. Lydia dropped it off at the house before she went to school. Now that I think of it, I think she mentioned she was coming over later too.” There was a quizzical look on John’s face. Stiles didn’t catch it though, as he was already groaning about the amount of work he has to do to get caught up. Pulling into the driveway, Stiles practically jumped out of the car and raced to the door.

“Home!” Behind him, the Sheriff was rolling his eyes and started digging in his pocket for the keys. Once he pulled them out, he threw them to Stiles, who clumsily caught them. When his father followed him into the kitchen, Stiles turned around confused. “What about work?” John raised a hand and brushed it off.

“I have the day off, going in tomorrow.” Clasping Stiles shoulder, he took the keys away from Stiles. “Besides, someone needs to help you with homework.”

“Dad you don’t know any of this stuff.” The response to Stiles’s murmured statement was just a hearty laugh.

* * *

 

“Stiles summarize.” Huffing a little, Stiles did as requested.

“Basically someone dies and bamn! There’s an out-for-revenge ghost.”

“So if people start dying, we need to look for a ghost?”

“Why not make it the family business?” Stiles joked, but the reference was lost. Somewhere in-between doing homework and getting lunch, Stiles had brought up the topic of [onryō](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onry%C5%8D) and his dad just started asking questions. The skeptical face John gave him, almost made Stiles break into a long laughing fit…almost.

“Wait, so how did you find out about this?”

“Kira, except what I thought she said the creatures’ name was, turned out to be a story; Yotsuya Kaidan.”

“Huh, well that’s….interesting.” Stiles grumbled a little.

“Dad it’s more than interesting! It’s… _interesting._ ” The Sheriff shook his head, and then glanced at his watch.

“It’s almost three. Isaac and Lydia should be here soon.” Stiles glanced at the kitchen table and then at the living room through the open door, before looking at his dad.

“Clean up?”

* * *

 

Isaac and Lydia didn’t knock as they came in, probably because they felt the need was not necessary. Either way, his father didn’t care. Instead John just smiled and said he was going up to his room to take a nap and to ‘behave’, whatever that meant.

“Hey Stiles!” Lydia cheerfully smiled before handing him another small stack of homework. Stiles huffed in surprise at the weight but just re-adjusted his arms. Motioning with his head for them to follow, Stiles led them to the living room. Setting the papers on the table, Stiles fell back on the couch.

“Did you know she was planning on assaulting me with homework Isaac?” A grin appeared on the teen wolf’s face and the slight twitch of Isaac’s head meant that he had. (Actually if it wasn’t for Isaac, Lydia would’ve just left the homework at school.) “Ugh… will you guys help?” Stiles waved his hand towards the stack at the end of the living room coffee table. “Apparently missing what…three days?...of high school leads to your social life being over!” The two visitors laughed and sat next to Stiles on the couch, one on either side.

* * *

 

“Stiles?” A yawn came from the doorway. “I have to go in and pick something up at the front desk. You wanna come?” Stiles turned his head to look at his father in the doorway. On both sides of him, Lydia and Isaac were standing up, casuing Stiles attention to shift to them.

“You should go.” Isaac nodded to him.

“But—” Stiles made a questioning look at his friends.

“Stiles, it’s okay. We were about to get going too. I need to get Isaac back to the loft and I need some sleep.” Smiling, Lydia bent down and kissed him on his forehead. “It’s alright.” As the two started to walk away, Stiles stood up and walked after them.

“Thanks guys.”

* * *

 

After his dad picked up whatever he needed to get, John clasped his shoulder and smiled at him. “Let’s go home.”

* * *

 

First off, they didn’t go home right away. Instead they went to the diner first to get some supper, consisting of cheeseburgers and curly fries. Then they went home. When they walked through the door, Stiles had his mouth full of fries, his dad right behind him shaking his head.

“Stiles, go to the kitchen will ya? We still need to talk.” Tilting his head to the side, Stiles shot a look at his dad but did as his dad asked, stumbling his way into the kitchen. Reaching his hand out, he flung a chair to where he was sat on it backwards. He kept munching on the fries as the Sheriff sat down next to him. “We have to work out a schedule.”

“What do you mean?” The question came out more like “whaddo ou ean?”, due to Stiles’s mouth being full.

“I mean, like I said at the hospital, I can’t be here all the time.” A frown appeared on John’s face. “I’m usually at work till 5 or 6, and that’s if I don’t get the third shift. And you get out of school around 2:45, so do you want to go to Derek’s or have Derek come here or are you going to hang out with your friends?”

“Wait what?”

“Stiles, I already told you that you’re to be watched until I say otherwise.” Sighing, Stiles put down the now empty curly fry bag and rubbed the back of his head. Where would he go? He wouldn’t go to Lydia’s, no offense to her. He’s no longer friends with Scott, so that’s out of the question. Derek’s would make sense, especially since Isaac lives there as well and most of the pack conjugates there anyway.

“I’ll go to his house, if that’s alright with him.”

“I already asked, and he was fine with whatever you were fine with. He said for you to send him a text.” Standing up, John came over to Stiles and put his hand on his son’s shoulder, squeezing it a little. “I’m off to bed. Don’t stay up too late.” Stiles turned and smiled at his dad.

“Course dad. I’ll be right after you. I should probably take a shower though, so I don’t smell like the hospital anymore.”

“Good idea.” In a joke-like manner, his father pinched his nose, causing Stiles to laugh a little. “Night Stiles.”

“Night.”

* * *

 

As Stiles walked up to his room, he quickly checked on his father sleeping before turning in himself. Closing the door behind him (not bothering to turn on the lights), Stiles leaned against it. He closed his eyes and dug in his pocket for his cell; time to text Derek.  When his phone turned on, he had to immediately turn down the brightness so his eyes didn’t hurt. On his screen, Stiles pulled up Derek’s name and tapped ‘send message’.

 

**To Derek:**

**Hey, come to your house after school?**

 

Stiles tapped on his leg impatiently, wondering if Derek would suddenly change his mind.

 

**To Stiles:**

**‘Course. Want me to pick you up?**

 

Surprised, Stiles glanced at the message again before deciding he should probably sit down and then message.

 

**To Derek:**

**Would you really?**

 

**To Stiles:**

**Need to pick up Isaac anyway.**

 

**To Derek:**

**Thanks sourwolf**

 

Biting his lip, he tried not to yawn.

 

**To Stiles:**

**Are you sleeping?**

 

Before he got a chance to reply, a second text came up.

 

**To Stiles:**

**Don’t lie.**

 

**To Derek:**

**I’m not tired.**

 

**To Stiles:**

**Open your window. I’ll be there in a few minutes.**

 

Confused at first, wondering why Derek would make such a strange request, Stiles made a small realization noise and, in a _totally_ calm manner, scrambled out of his bed to open the window.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! :) 
> 
> If you have any questions, feel free to comment :)


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:
> 
> Confused at first, wondering why Derek would make such a strange request, Stiles made a small realization noise and, in a totally calm manner, scrambled out of his bed to open the window.

Stiles nervously twitched on his bed, waiting for the werewolf to come through the window. While it wasn’t exactly new that someone would climb through his window, this is the first time he was informed beforehand and it made him nervous. There was a rustling sound outside the door, near the tree right outside his window. A thump came and a few seconds later, Derek fell graciously into the room, landing on the floor and then jumping back up.

“Hey.” Stiles shyly said as he just looked up at Derek. His right leg was hanging off the bed as his left leg was tucked neatly underneath his right knee, with the sheets around him being a complete mess. Derek looked blankly at him. “Well are you coming over here or what?” Nodding, Derek walked over to Stiles’s bed and sat next to him, still just staring at him. After a few minutes of just staring at each other, Stiles started to grin. “Are you going to talk or what?”

“Do you remember me kissing you?” The question was random and Derek looked away when he asked. Confused, Stiles tilted his head. Why _wouldn’t_ he remember when Derek kissed him and then walked away? Wasn’t it shortly after that that Stiles went to the loft and they had a small make-out before everything happened?

“Yeah, of course I remember.” Stiles’s answer was hesitant, mostly due to the fact that he had no clue where Derek was going with this.

“Would you,” Derek leaned closer to him, “mind if I did it again?” He stopped getting closer to Stiles’s face when they could feel their breath on one another, almost similar to last time. Unlike last time though, Derek closed the space between them. The kissing started off slow, just small pecks, mostly because Derek was unsure if Stiles wanted this or not. Stiles brought his hands up and wrapped them around Derek’s neck, trying to pull Derek in closer. Derek responded by leaning in, placing his hands on the bed behind Stiles. Soon Derek was pushing Stiles backward, which made Stiles rearrange his legs so his knees were at Derek’s hips and his back was on the bed. They continued kissing and similar to last time, Derek moved his kisses downward to Stiles’s neck.

“Derek…” Stiles moaned. “What are you doing?” Derek gave yet another butterfly kiss before answering.

“I’m kissing you.” Yet another kiss to Stiles’s neck. “And Stiles?”

“What?” Stiles asked. Derek paused his ministrations and looked up at Stiles.

“I like you, like really like.” Stiles rolled his eyes.

“I kind of figured since we were kissing.” Smiling, Derek kissed Stiles again. The make-out session evened off to where they were just casually kissing while laying next to each other. Stiles moved to where he was on his side. Derek moved an arm around Stiles and rubbed at his back, their other hands clasped together. “Does this make us boyfriends?” Laughing a little, Derek hugged Stiles closer.

“Do you want to be boyfriends?”

“Yeah, I guess I do.”

“Then I guess we are.” The two stayed quiet for the next few minutes, just enjoying the others company. Stiles fell asleep first, softly snoring on Derek’s shoulder.

* * *

 

When the Sheriff woke up, he stretched and yawned before getting out of bed. Rubbing the back of his head, something Stiles seemed to have learned from him, John walked to Stiles’s room to check on him. While of course he was taken by surprise after seeing Derek in bed with Stiles, he smiled and caused him to laugh a little. Shaking his head, John walked down to the kitchen and started making some waffles.

* * *

 

Shaking his head and blinking once or twice, Stiles looked up at the relaxed, sleeping Derek. He was taken aback at how peaceful the sourwolf seemed to be. The aroma of waffles reached him and Stiles started to blush, thinking that his dad was awake, meaning the Sheriff had probably come and checked on him and had seen them snuggling. Stiles sighed in wonder of what his dad’s response was when they were seen.

“Why are you up so early?” Derek groaned next to him, his grip on Stiles tightening a little. The whine caused Stiles to start laughing.

“It’s only 8 sourwolf. Now come on…food!” Stiles pushed himself off of the wolf and sat up, scooting over to the edge of the bed. He gazed back at Derek to see the werewolf roll of the bed and start doing push-ups. Rolling his eyes, Stiles commented, “Show off.” Then standing up, Stiles stretched out his arms and walked over to his dresser to pick out a pair of shorts.

“You should wear your jean capris.” When Stiles shot him a look through the mirror on his dresser, Derek held up his hands in surrender. “What? I’m not allowed to say that they look good on you or something.” Stiles shook his head, causing Derek to smirk. “Well too bad. Also wear that red plaid shirt.”

“Derek….!” As Derek was about to reply in a mimicking form, there was a shout from at the bottom of the stairs.

“Hey you two lovebirds! Time to get up! Waffles are ready.” If Stiles blushed before, it was nothing like how red his face was right now.

“Dad…!” Stiles whined. There was a large laugh from down the stairs.

“ _Dad…!”_ Derek imitated him.

“Shut up Derek.” Stiles fake glared at him while he pulled up his pants. When he had them buttoned, Stiles grabbed Derek’s hand and led him to the stairway. Pulling Derek behind him, Stiles rushed to the kitchen, quickly grabbing a plate and a few waffles. Then sprinkled his food in maple syrup…or rather drowned it. His dad raised an eyebrow at him.

“Eat much?” John asked as Stiles stuffed his face, not bothering to be considerate. Sensing what his dad was talking about, Stiles shrugged.

“Derek can get his own food.” Stiles nudged Derek and pointed to the waffles. When Derek hesitantly reached for a plate and then a waffle, Stiles patted his head. “Good dog.”

“Good dog me one more time and I’ll show you the Big Bad Wolf.” Derek softly frowned at him before starting to eat.

“Okay you two, stop with the…whatever that was.” John eyed the two of them subsequent to sitting down himself and starting to eat.

* * *

 

As they finished eating, John stood up and started walking to his bedroom. “I have to go to work today. Think you could watch him Derek?”

“Yes sir.”

“No need to call me sir, just John. However you have to remember that I know you’re a werewolf and I can easily get wolfsbane bullets from the Argents.”

“Yes si—John.”

“Good. Glad we had the talk.”

The second the Sheriff walked out of the kitchen, Stiles let out a sigh of relief. “That was stressful…” He put a hand to his forehead and leaned against the counter, just where he had placed his and Derek’s dishes.

“It wasn’t so bad.” Derek lifted up his hands and placed them on Stiles’s shoulders. “See? I’m still in one piece. Your dad didn’t shoot me.”

“Yet.” Stiles added, smirking a bit. “What do you wanna do today?”

“Shouldn’t I be asking you?” Shrugging, Stiles ducked underneath Derek’s arms and walked over to the table they were sitting at to get his dad’s plates. It was close to the usual routine the two had; John would go get ready for work while Stiles put away dishes that would later get cleaned when Stiles got home. Seeing as how he wasn’t going to school today or tomorrow, or probably not until next week Monday, Stiles started scrubbing the dishes by hand. Derek stood awkwardly next to him, clearly not sure if he should be doing something to help or not. Rolling his eyes, Stiles nodded towards a towel with his head.

“You can dry.” With how many dishes there were, the two were done in seconds. Stiles watched as Derek flipped the dish towel over his shoulder and crossed his arms. When he was caught staring and was shot a questioning look, Stiles held up his hands. “Don’t ask me.”

“Ask you what?” The new voice barely startled the two in the kitchen as the Sheriff walked in as he buttoned his cuffs.

“Derek wanted to know if he can do dishes next.” His dad raised an eyebrow and cautiously nodded.

“Sure…come and do them anytime Derek…” Shaking his head, John reached in his back pocket and threw something at Stiles. “Here’s your new phone, seeing as the other was smashed.” Stiles, being….well Stiles, fumbled it in his hands and tried to grab it before it hit the ground. Derek though, being a werewolf, bent down and flicked his wrist out, easily catching it. Standing straight up, Derek just casually handed it over.

“Usually people don’t try and drop a new phone.” Derek mused. Stiles stuck his tongue out at the werewolf before looking down at his phone.

“Thanks dad.”

“No problem, and I’m off to work so please behave you two.” Stiles grinned, saluting his father as his dad walked towards the front door.

“Aye aye sir.”

“Bye Stiles. Bye Derek.” The two could practically _hear_ the eye roll in the Sheriff’s voice.

“Well now that he’s gone, what do you wanna do?” Stiles turned around and smiled at Derek.

“Um…” Derek hummed, “a walk?” Gasping a little, Stiles put a hand to his chest.

“Will pizza be the end result?”

“Are you asking me on a date Stiles?” Finally getting the result he wanted, Stiles nodded.

“I suppose I am, but if we’re making this an all day thing, I need to text Lydia and Isaac.” Pulling out his new phone, Stiles slid his thumb over the touch screen. He quickly sent a message saying that he wouldn’t be home if they came over later, that he was with Derek and not to worry. “Alright, let’s go.”

* * *

 

The light breeze rustled the tree leaves, causing a few to fall around the new couple. Derek had his arm wrapped around Stiles’s shoulder, pulling the teenager in closer. Stiles eagerly welcomed the comfort. Other than the sound of their footsteps, causing the occasional snap of twigs underneath their feet, and the rustle of leaves, it was quiet. A few squirrels crossed their path with some sort of food in their mouths, but that was pretty much it. Sometimes Stiles would point something out or Derek would bring back a memory and share it with Stiles.

“Lara used to take me up there.” Derek pointed to a cliff that overlooked the entire town. “We used to stay there for fireworks. You can get the best view there.” Stiles pulled away from Derek and started walking towards it. When he realized Derek wasn’t following, he stopped and turned around.

“Are you coming or what?” There was a smile upon Stiles face that made Derek want to grin and follow him, so that’s what he did. Since it was right up a semi-steep hill, there were times that Stiles would trip and start falling, only to have Derek right behind him and catch him. Reaching the top, there was a grassy area with a picnic bench, next to a dirt bike trail. There was some wood railing about a foot before it drops almost straight down and the view was gorgeous. “This is beautiful.” Stiles turned and stared at Derek.

“Yeah it is.” Although Derek wasn’t looking at the view, he was looking at Stiles. Stiles did a brush-off laugh and gently punched Derek in the arm.

“I’m going to have to change your nickname to clichéwolf, because trust me…that was super cliché.” He said before he walked over to the picnic table and sat down, resting on his arms as he faced the town. A few seconds later and Derek sat down next to him. Nothing was said and after a while, Stiles got worried so he glanced over at Derek. He was taken aback by how relaxed and calm the werewolf was that he couldn’t tear his eyes away.

“Is something wrong Stiles?” Swallowing a little, Stiles shook his head.

“Nope, no problem.” Derek looked back at him with an amused look on his face.

“You weren’t just staring at me for ten minutes?”

“It wasn’t ten minutes.” Stiles argued and then realized his mistake.

“So you were staring at me?” The amused look on Derek’s face grew. Stiles’s face grew red and he turned away from the werewolf. Realizing the sourwolf never stopped looking at him, Stiles turned back.

“Now who’s staring?” Derek smiled, and looking at Stiles lips, decided to go for it. Seeing what Derek was going for, Stiles brought his right hand to Derek’s nape and positioned himself so it was more comfortable to kiss Derek.

“Do you want lunch?” Derek asked when they stopped kissing. Checking his new phone, Stiles realized that it was almost two, which is absolutely insane because usually he’s starving by now. Maybe it’s because his attention was focused on Derek and the walk that he just forgot.

“Yes…pizza please.”

* * *

 

An empty pizza box sat on the counter of Stiles’s kitchen while Stiles and Derek were in the living room, sitting down. “What do you want to do?” This time it was Derek’s turn to ask Stiles. Stiles hummed a little before snuggling a little closer to Derek.

“We could watch a movie?” Derek nodded, looking at the clock on the nearby table.

“Well Isaac and Lydia should be getting out kind of soon. We could turn it into a small pack night.” The smile on Stiles’s face was all that needed to be said, but of course Stiles talked.

“Yes yes yes yes! We definitely should do that. Wait, let me text.” Sitting up from the comfortable position, Stiles grabbed his phone off the coffee table and sent a text to the two pack members saying to ignore his last text and to come right over for a movie night. Almost immediately he got a text back from Lydia saying that they’ll be there. “Well they’re coming.” Stiles beamed at Derek then his face fell. “Does this mean more pizza?” Derek chuckled.

“It probably wouldn’t hurt.”

* * *

 

“We’re here!” Lydia announced as she walked through the door to the Stilinski’s house.

“In the living room!” Stiles shouted back. Isaac and Lydia took off their shoes and walked into the living room, to see all the curtains drawn (making the room significantly darker) and Derek and Stiles snuggled up on the couch. With his hand, Stiles wildly motioned them to come over. Being the most comfortable with Stiles, Lydia sat down and leaned onto Stiles. Issac decided to take the floor, despite there being room on the couch, right in-between Stiles and Lydia’s legs.

“What movie did you put in?” Isaac questioned.

“Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2. Also there’s pizza coming in about an hour.”

* * *

 

To the Sheriff’s surprise, when he got home at around ten-ish, there was a super nice car in his driveway along with a jet black Camaro. Pulling the keys out of his pocket, John unlocked the garage door and walked inside. He placed his bag down on the kitchen table, quickly noticing the pizza on the counter. Grabbing a piece, he wandered into the living room. “Stiles?” Upon seeing the scene on his couch, Stiles’s dad started smiling; Stiles was asleep against Derek, whose head was resting on Stiles’s head, Lydia was sleeping on Stiles and Isaac was slumbering against Stiles’s leg. The Sheriff didn’t doubt that if he had yelled a little louder that they wouldn’t have woken up, they were pretty much dead to the world. He guessed that instead of calling one kid in, he would be calling in three. Shaking his head while refraining to laugh at the out turn of the day’s events, John turned off the TV, got some blankets to place onto the teenagers and adult, and switched off the light on his way out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya! Thanks for reading :)


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another Scott POV Chapter!

The only reason Scott went back to his house was because his mom was going to worry about him and he was getting exhausted, despite how fast his body heals, being a werewolf just gives a higher endurance, not immunity to sleep. When he got inside, he looked at his mom, who had her head in her hands. Giving a slight sigh, Scott sat down his motorbike helmet and walked over to his mom, setting his hands on his shoulders. Starting to give her a massage, his mom put her head on the table and let out a sigh.

“You okay mom?” Melissa shook her head.

“No…it was a long day. A few people came in from a small gas explosion and after that a car accident happened.” Sensing something else had happened, he hugged his mom closely. “The baby in the backseat died after an hour of getting to the hospital…” Her whisper was extremely quiet and she leaned into the hug. Sniffling she pushed away after a few minutes. Wiping her eyes, Melissa turned to look at her son. “How was Stiles? Did you guys talk?” Scott rubbed the back of his neck.

“No exactly. Kira called half-way through and he just exploded.” Standing up, Melissa rubbed Scott’s back.

“What are you going to do?”

“Anything,” Scott shook his hand, “anything and everything. I shouldn’t have done that to Stiles, especially after everything he’s done for me.”

“Listen, I’m not going to yell at you.” She stared at him with a soft, understanding look. “I have a feeling that Stiles already had. Plus I’m sure he’s not the only one that’s going to be yelling.” Scott flinched a little when the memory of Derek pushing him against the wall came back to him.

“I’m off to bed. I have to think about what I’m going to do.” His mom nodded and Scott gave his mom one last hug before heading upstairs. Once he got up, he carefully shut his door, as to not make any noise, and jumped on his bed. He turned over and tried to get comfortable but couldn’t. This was going to be a long night.

* * *

 

Scott was up way before the morning light even _started_ to show. Rolling out of bed about four hours later (about nine o’clock), Scott sighed. He had little to no sleep, just kept flipping over and over debating on what to do to try and get Stiles back as a friend. Sneaking past his mom’s room, he glanced in to check on her, before continuing on. Grabbing his leather jacket off a hook near the front door, he left; time to try and put his plan into action.

* * *

 

Meanwhile, back at Stiles's house, there was a soft, but confident knock on the door. Stiles yawned as he walked down the steps to get it, still in his navy blue sweatpants. The others, including Derek, had gone back to their houses, all promising they’d come over later.  Opening the door, all words in his mouth just stopped.

"Listen before you say anything and get all mad, I want you to hear me out. No... I _need_ you to hear me. Then you can decide what to do." The words came out in a jumble and it took Stiles a few seconds to get caught up. Exhausted from just waking up and not really in the mood to start arguing, all Stiles's response was, was opening up the door to usher the girl in. When Kira walked in, her body language automatically became that of someone who was uncomfortable. Ignoring it, Stiles closed the door and walked right past her, into the kitchen for some orange juice. Kira trailed quietly behind him and stood in the doorway as he owned the fridge and vent down to get out the drink. As he started to pour it in a glass cup his dad must've left out, he sighed a little.

"I'm sorry. I just woke up and-"

"You don't need to apologize Stiles. You haven't done anything." Seeming to get a little confidence back, and seeing how Stiles is listening, Kira took a step in the room and continued. "I honestly thought you didn't mind." She confessed. "Scott was saying how you never minded before and how you encouraged him. There were the phone calls but, I'm not sure if you heard me laughing or not, I walked into the room a few days ago to Scott telling you a lie. I was laughing because my dad told a joke, which is rare. But I swear after I saw what he was doing, I yelled at him" Kira winced a little. "I may or may not have hit him with a lacrosse stick and then kicked him out right after that. I'm not trying to blame Scott because I have just as much involvement as he does. I should've known better. I should’ve seen that I was taking him away from you.” Kira paused, kind of surprised that Stiles hadn’t interrupted her. When Stiles rose an eyebrow at her, Kira kind of cringed back. Sure she’s fought supernatural monsters before and sure she fought the Nogitsune in the form of Stiles, but she had no doubt that Stiles didn’t need the hyped up power of the fear-feeding creature to scare the hell out of her.

“What about when you called?” Surprised, Kira visibly recoiled back.

“I was mostly calling to see if he made up with you. You have to believe that I had _no_ idea that you were in the hospital. _Please_ believe me.” It wasn’t that she was begging, but more like pleading that Stiles understood where she was coming from.

“And I’m supposed to just believe you?” Kira nodded slowly, seeing where he was coming from.

“Wait…” she hesitated, trying to remember something, “can’t werewolves see into someone’s memories?” There was a slight perplexed look on her face, not sure if it was actually true or not. Stiles looked confused for a second, but that might have to do with the fact that he just woke up a few minutes ago.

“We’ll go and ask Peter later.” Stiles recalled Isaac telling him something about Peter seeing his memories. Kira nodded, grateful for the fact that Stiles was at least giving her a chance, and she was going to take that chance and try to get Stiles to trust her again, if he ever did in the first place.

“I’ll stop by the loft later?” She turned to leave but a hand on her shoulder stopped her. Kira froze completely.

“Relax; I’m not going to hurt you. I just wanted to tell you before you left that I’ll send you a message. You’re on the way there so I can get just drop by and get you.” Shocked that Stiles would even offer her a ride, Kira almost forgot to speak.

“Uh….yeah, yeah that’d be great. Thank you Stiles.” When Stiles took her hand off her shoulder, Kira took that as his request to leave. The second the door closed, Stiles put his hands on the counter, gripping it tight, and leaning backwards and letting out a sigh as he did so. What had he just agreed to? Sure it was logical. This way he could be for certain because he has the reassurance from someone else. Plus if they lied, the other werewolves could easily out them.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:
> 
> The second the door closed, Stiles put his hands on the counter, gripping it tight, and leaning backwards and letting out a sigh as he did so. What had he just agreed to? Sure it was logical. This way he could be for certain because he has the reassurance from someone else. Plus if they lied, the other werewolves could easily out them.

“No. Absolutely not.” Before anything else could be said, Derek closed the door in their face. Sighing in utter frustration, Stiles knocked on the loft door again. There was a large shout of anger came from the other side and the door slammed open again.

“Dude, relax. We just want answers and you don’t have to go flying off the handles.” They stood there for what seemed like hours, Stiles and Derek just glaring at each other. A sharp nod and a step away from the door, gave the two permission to come inside. “Great. Now that we have _that_ out of the way, can we please continue as to why we came?”

“Stiles…” Derek closed the door behind them. “Peter isn’t here.”

“Peter needs to get down—wait what?” Derek rolled his eyes, crossing his arms in the process.

“Peter isn’t here. He left to visit Cora about two weeks ago.”

“Well when is he getting back?” Looking at the clock on the wall, Derek continued to glare at Kira. He let out a breath when Stiles snapped his fingers in front of his face. “Listen, I’m sorry we’re wasting your time but this is kind of important. And besides, glaring at Kira isn’t going to solve anything!”

“His plan should land in about an hour.” Derek shrugged his shoulders before sitting on the couch. “Isaac!” He shot them a sympathetic look when he noticed them cover their ears. “Sorry, he’s got headphones on listening to whatever you guys listen to these days. Listen…why don’t we wait until Peter gets here? I don’t want to do it myself because I’ve never done it before.”

“Will he do it?” Kira wondered out loud.

“Yeah, because as much as he hates to admit it, he does care. He just thinks it’s funny when he acts like he despises being around people.” Stiles, having enough of standing, threw himself on the couch next to Derek. Kira, on the other hand, just stayed standing, not entirely sure on what to do at the moment.

“Kira, you can sit.”

“Um…alright then.” Glancing behind her, Kira tucked in her skirt a little before sitting down, her satchel falling to the side. She fiddled nervously with her hands. “So when did Isaac get back?”

“Isaac got back a week ago.” Stepping out from behind a column, with blue headphones resting around his neck, Isaac smiled.   
  
“Isaac makes me uncomfortable when he talks in the third person.” Stiles joked, patting the seat next to him. Isaac gladly did so, grinning the entire time.

“So are we sitting here for a reason or are we just….?” Stiles shook his head.

“We’re here for Peter, who’s going to be back in about an hour, because Kira,” motioning to Kira, Stiles noticed Isaac’s face harden a little but the teen wolf didn’t say anything, “says she’s telling the truth and we need someone to look at her memories.” A thoughtful look crossed Isaac’s face.

“Truth about what?”

“She says that she told Scott off and the reason Scott got a phone call at the hospital was because she wanted to know if Scott and I had talked or not.” Isaac hummed a little in response but kept his mouth shut, trying his best to not say anything. She was part of the reason why Stiles was in the hospital. He could feel the anger starting to boil over. Stiles must of sensed it somehow because a hand was placed on his knee, causing Isaac to chill a little but to still be on edge. From the corner of his eye, Isaac saw Derek scowl at the movement and the placement. Internally, he laughed at the obvious jealousness on Derek’s face. Stiles though seemed to have sensed Derek feeling uncomfortable because Stiles leaned over and whispered something in the werewolf’s ear.

“Relax Derek. I just don’t want him to jump up and attack her.”  Stiles’s breath gently brushed across Derek’s ear. Derek turned to whisper something back to him.

“Do that again and I’m kicking these two out.”

“Ew gross….TMI guys.” Isaac complained. There was a small moment of silence before Stiles started laughing. Kira sat a clueless as to what just happened and Derek just sat there with a not-gui Stiles jumped up after it had gotten quiet again.

"We should do something while we wait."

"Watch another movie?" Isaac suggested as he stretched out his arms so that one was resting on the back of the couch.

"I don't really have any." When the three teenagers looked a Derek, a look of guilt appeared. "I never really had time to watch any." Stiles had a flabbergasted look on his face before it turned into an over-excited kitten look.

"It's fine. While you go pick up Peter, we'll go to the movie store and buy some." Derek looked unsure at the proposition. What if Isaac does decide to attack Kira? Not that Derek doesn't trust Isaac, but he is a werewolf and Stiles trying to hold him back wouldn't work. He realized he had been quiet a bit too long when he heard a small please come from Isaac, Derek nodded.

"Fine but be careful please." Stiles jumped up in the air.

"Yes! I have so many movie ideas..." His rambling voice started to drift away as Kira, Isaac, and him walked out of the loft, leaving Derek wondering what he had just gotten himself into. Pulling his Camaro keys out of his pocket, he spun them around his finger a couple times before catching them and walking out the loft door, easily shutting it behind him.

"Let's go get Peter." He said to no one in particular as he started to jog/walk down the stairs.

* * *

 

“Stiles….Stiles…..Stiles?” Whatever trance he was in, Stiles snapped out of it to see a worried look on Isaac’s face.

“Yeah man?” Glancing over the movies in front of him, Stiles pulled out three; _Tin Man_ , _Back to the Future_ , and _Jurassic Park: 3 in 1_.

“Are you okay?” Isaac asked.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Stiles smiled and shot a look at the movies in Isaac’s hands. “Harry Potter?” Shifting uncomfortably, Isaac almost bumped into Kira.

“I can put them back.”

“No don’t. They’re good movies.” Kira put her hand out to stop Isaac. “Besides, I can’t wait to see Derek’s reaction to their version of a werewolf.” Isaac smiled at her comment.

“Ten bucks on that he’ll be yelling at the TV saying they’re wrong.”

“You’re on.” Kira and Isaac shook hands before giving ten dollars each. Rolling his eyes, Stiles took the money.

“Come on, it’s a fifteen minute ride back.”

* * *

 

They got there before Derek and Peter, the Camaro nowhere in sight. Grabbing the bag of movies, Stiles turned off the jeep, thus turning off the music that filled the silent car. Closing the car doors, the trio made their way up to the loft. Stiles and them didn’t have to wait long though because just as they were setting up the first Harry Potter movie, Derek and Peter walked through the door. There was an exasperated look on Peter’s face.

“Hello to you guys too.” Stiles said jokingly. Peter shot a look at Derek before setting down his bags.

“So,” he flexed his claws, “I’m a little out of practice, but it should be alright.” Seeing their confused faces, Peter continued on. “Derek informed me of your memory search need on the way here. Guess I should’ve known that you guys would be here already. Now…who is the lucky victim?” Shyly, mostly out of being uncertain about this now, Kira raised her hand.

* * *

 

Kira twisted nervously in the wooden chair given to her, not that it was uncomfortable but it was the fact that Peter was standing behind her, claws out, and he could easily just kill her and be done with it. There was no warning or anything when he put his claws in the back of her neck. She screamed in pain, anybody would. After a few seconds of the pain rushing through her veins with the memory flashing through her head, Kira passed out. When she came to, she was laying down on the couch with her head on a few pillows.

“Hey, I think she’s waking up.” There was some movement from nearby and someone put a hand on her forehead. “Can you hear me Kira?” Peeking open her eyes, she saw Stiles staring down at her.

“What happened?”

“The pain knocked you out. We thought you would be able to handle it but we kind of forgot to take out the fact that you aren’t a werewolf.” Embarrassed, Stiles scratched the back of his head.  “Are you alright?”

“My head hurts, but yeah, I think I’ll be fine.” Then realizing that Derek was next to her offering a glass of water, Kira slowly sat up, reaching for the water. Taking a sip, Kira noticed how everyone was staring at them, even Peter who looked like he was forced to stay in the room.

“Peter saw,” Derek started, “a little, not everything you said,” Kira felt her heart rate increase which caused a small look of alarm cross the werewolf’s face. “Relax, he saw enough to confirm what you said.” Kira still held her breath but her heart rate calmed down just a little.

“So what does this mean?”

“It means…” Derek crossed his arms, rocking back and forth a little on his heels and glancing at Stiles. “It means that you’re not completely at fault.”

“And….” Kira changed her attention to Stiles, “I forgive you.” Stiles said, with a small sigh added.  Shell shocked, Kira stared open mouthed at Stiles and then Derek, then back at Stiles. “You were out for about two hours, so trust me when I say that it’s something I thought about. It’s just….”

“Stiles you don’t have to explain anything to me. I know part of it is my fault, so please don’t say you forgive me until I’ve forgiven myself.” Stiles nodded, understanding. “Anyways,” Kira set down the water given to her, and started rubbing her hands. Standing up, Kira weakly smiled at Derek. “I should be off. I only told my dad I’d be a few hours and I need to make dinner.”

“Are things still tough with you and your mom?” Peter asked from the corner he was in. She hesitated before opening the loft door and then walking out. The two werewolves and the human just stayed still, not sure how to think about her exit. “Well I guess things aren’t okay yet.” Stiles stood up and glared at Peter.

“No I think everything’s okay judging from how hard she slammed the door.” Peter held up his hands in submission.

“Okay, I see how it is. I come home, help you guys right away, and then I’m brushed away.” Shaking his head, Peter started walking towards the stairs. “Call if you need me.”

“Unlikely.” Derek whispered under his breath. “Thanks Peter.” He said a little bit more loudly. As his uncle disappeared up the stairs, Derek turned around and stared at Stiles. They didn’t say anything, just kind of stared at each other. Stiles, uncomfortable with no noise, fidgeted. Turning around to the couch where Kira was…sleeping a few minutes before, Stiles started to reorganize the pillows. He then moved onto the kitchen, just randomly cleaning as he went, putting cups back in the cabinet (if they were deemed clean enough). Stiles stopped when Derek put his hands on Stiles’s biceps, stilling the ADHD boy. “Stiles…you don’t need to clean.”

“Well it’s a bit messy and I mean…I’m just cleaning so you won’t have to do it later, and why not? Besides, you won’t have to do it later.”

“You’re repeating yourself Stiles. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Derek crossed his arms at the reply.

“I thought we were past this.” Stiles sighed, rubbing his face before looking down and then up at Derek. He placed his hands on the counter behind him and hopped up on it.

“Me too and I’m sorry. I forgot to take my medicine this morning and I’m having trouble concentrating.” Carefully, Derek moved closer to him.

“You seemed fine earlier, why now?”

“Earlier I was busy, I kept myself busy with something. I mean, I would bounce my leg up and down if I wasn’t doing anything.” Derek nodded, understanding what he was talking about. Earlier Peter had kicked Derek a few times while pointing at Stiles knee, but Derek just assumed that it had something to do with the fact that they were just about to figure out if Kira was okay after she passed out. Also the fact that Peter was sitting near him since Derek knew Stiles didn’t feel the most comfortable with Peter. Stiles shifted a little.

“Do you need to go get your medicine?” Stiles shook his head.

“It won’t work this late.” Derek raised an eyebrow and looked over at the clock.

“I suppose so. Just…what can I do to help?”

“Nothing.” Stiles shrugged. “I’ll just have to wait to take my medicine tomorrow. Until then I’ll be a super hyperactive kid.” Looking away, Stiles started to bounce his leg again. He didn’t notice Derek get closer. Only when Derek nuzzled Stiles a little, did Stiles become aware of him. “What are you doing? Not that I don’t mind, I’m just insanely curious.” Stiles babbled.

“Stiles, shut up…and stop using the words ‘I’m just’.” Derek kissed the right next to Stiles’s lips.

“You  missed.”


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:
> 
> “Stiles, shut up…and stop using the words ‘I’m just’.” Derek kissed the right next to Stiles’s lips.
> 
> “You missed.”

To say they made out would be an understatement. All of Stiles unfocused attention was focused on Derek for the next few hours. They were so busy making out, that they didn’t notice Peter come down the stairs, walk across the floor, and then proceed to slam the loft door behind him.  Derek picked Stiles up and walked over to the bed in Derek’s nearby bedroom, dropping Stiles gently on top of it. Stiles looked up, a little dazed, and moved back until his head touched Derek’s pillows. He watched as Derek took off his shoes and climb onto the bed so that he was right above Stiles. Derek’s arms were right next to his head. Stiles licked his lips unconsciously. As if reading Stiles’s thoughts, Derek leaned down and kissed him intensely. A few minutes later Stiles broke away, which in turned caused Derek to give him a confused look. Blushing, Stiles kissed Derek again. “Never mind.”

“No, what is it?” Stiles squirmed underneath him.

“I just…I wanted to try…” A bright red blush came to Stiles’s cheeks and he turned away from Derek’s questioning eyes. As if seeing what he was getting at, Derek tugged a little at the end of Stiles’s shirt. Derek searched Stiles’s eyes to see if this is what he was asking about. Shyly, Stiles nodded and Derek confidently took off Stiles’s shirt, and then his own. Stiles marveled a minute at Derek’s upper body tone, touching Derek’s stomach and lightly drawing circles on it.  Derek simultaneously touched Stiles’s shoulders and side of face.  

“You’re beautiful.” Derek softly spoke. Stiles didn’t reply, just kissed Derek. They continued giving each other passionate kisses. “It’s late...” Derek kissed Stiles lightly, “would you want to stay the night?”

“I wouldn’t mind.” Stiles smiled and the kissing continued, more heated then before.

* * *

 

The sun rising was just at the right angle that it woke Stiles up. He turned over, the sheets cluttered around his ankles, and paused his movements in confusion. Lifting up his head, Stiles searched the room for the werewolf. “Derek?”

“Yeah?” His boyfriend called back. Stiles smiled, loving the sound of that… _his boyfriend._ Derek walked into his room with a pan of eggs, scrambling them with a wooden spatula.

“Nothing, I just wanted to see where you were.” Stiles didn’t necessarily lie, he just didn’t tell the complete truth. While he’s sure that Derek isn’t like that, just a part of him is still uncertain about some things.

“Just making breakfast. You hungry?”

“After last night?” Stiles grinned and winked. “You bet I am!” Derek laughed and disappeared back into the kitchen. Stiles just stayed on the bed though, his hands crossed on his chest. A wide smile stayed on his face the entire time as he was thinking about how happy Derek makes him and just how his life had suddenly been turned around. It was just a few days ago he was in the hospital wasn’t it? Stiles sighed and closed his eyes. He didn’t need supernatural hearing to hear Derek in the kitchen walking back and forth and the occasional hiss of the bacon. Taking another sniff at the aroma, Stiles rolled off of the bed, yawning. Glancing around, Stiles found his shirt and pants neatly folded up on top of a dark brown dresser. He quickly looked at the bedroom doorway before standing up and walking over to the dresser. Getting an idea, Stiles took out a shirt and put it on. He would’ve taken out some pants too to better impersonate Derek, but Derek was an inch or two taller than him. When he stepped into the kitchen, Derek looked over at him, looked away, and then looked back, jaw just slightly open. Stiles hummed a little, sitting down on a nearby chair. “So what are you making?” Derek closed his mouth for a second before turning back to the eggs.

“Bacon, eggs; I have some hashbrowns in the oven actually.”

“Yum! What did I do to get you?”

“I think the real question is how did I get _you_?”

“You just stood there and frowned and I found you attractive.” Stiles joked. “Not to mention you’d push me into walls every time I saw you…wait, you still do that.”

“And you love it.” Derek growled softly. With his back still turned to Stiles, Derek missed Stiles wiggling his eyebrows in a suggestive matter.

“I’m hungry.” Were the next two words that came out of Stiles’s mouth. Rolling his eyes, Derek turned off the heat on the stove and took the eggs off, scraping them onto two plates. Next he turned off the heat on the bacon and carefully laid the strips next to the eggs. Turning around, Derek set down one plate in front of Stiles and one in front of an empty chair.  Stiles smiled up at Derek and waited for him to sit. To his surprise though, Derek didn’t sit but instead took out some orange juice from the fridge.

“Want a cup?”

“Yes please!” Stiles said enthusiastically with a large smile on his face. Derek’s response was a raise of the eyebrow. “What? I like orange juice.” Stiles stuck his tongue out. Grinning, Derek poured two glasses and gave one to Stiles. “Yep,” Stiles said after taking a sip, “I could _definitely_ get used to this.”

“No way, next time you’re making breakfast.” Derek joked as he sat down. Continuing to smile and enjoy one another’s company, they both started eating. About half way through though, Stiles broke the silence.

“What’s that smell?” Derek took a sniff.

“Oh shit,” he slightly cringed at the smoky smell, “totally forgot about the hashbrowns.”

* * *

 

“I should go check on my dad.” Stiles said as he started tying his shoe laces. He looked up to see Derek crossing his arms and nodding at him.

“Sounds good. I have a few errands to run anyway.” Standing up, Stiles slowly walked over to his boyfriend, all his confidence from earlier gone. Suddenly all that was left was nerves. Derek didn’t move his eyes off of Stiles the entire time.

“So…I’ll see you….later?” Stiles dragged out his words as he got closer to Derek’s face, stopping just as his nose was about to touch Derek’s. Derek stared into Stiles’s golden brown eyes before leaning in and giving him a short kiss.

“Of course. Do you wanna have supper here?” The question caused Stiles to blush.

“Actually would you want to eat at my house? I kind of want to tell my dad.” Watching as Derek visibly gulped, Stiles backtracked. “You don’t have to come over and I don’t have to tell my dad. I mean it’s alright and –”

“Stiles it’s fine.” Derek gripped Stiles’s shoulders and gave him a small peck on the forehead. “Go; I’ll see you in a few hours.”

“Oh could you bring a dessert? But make it a healthy dessert, nothing too sugary.”

“Of course.” Derek watched as Stiles walked over to the loft door. However, he wasn’t expecting Stiles to turn around, come half-running, half-jogging back, and giving him a kiss; and not just a soft kiss like he gave Stiles a few seconds ago, a passionate kiss that lasted more than 10 seconds. When Stiles pulled away, his cheeks turned bright red.

“I’ll see you later I guess.”

* * *

 

The second Stiles left his loft, Derek raced to the kitchen to grab his keys, there was something for him to fix. He had been thinking about it ever since he got up this morning with Stiles curled up next to him. While he’s sure Stiles is happy, he’s also sure Stiles isn’t complete, not without Scott. Grabbing his leather jacket, Derek quickly walked out of his apartment and to his Camaro. A few seconds after opening the car door, he was pulling out of his apartment’s parking lot and onto the way to Scott’s house.

The entire way there Derek was questioning and worrying about what was to happen and what it would lead to. Would Scott listen to him? Would Scott _want_ to make it up to Stiles? Would Stiles forgive Scott? Would Stiles get angry at Derek? His chest tightened at the thought of losing Stiles. Derek had already almost lost Stiles; he didn’t want to take the chance of losing Stiles again. Shaking his head, Derek pulled onto Scott’s street. He was doing this _for_ Stiles, and while Stiles might get upset at first, he’ll see why Derek did it. As he was nearing Scott’s house, he was surprised to see Isaac and Lydia were already there, but it appeared like they just got there as the two were closing Lydia’s car doors. Pulling into the driveway, he killed the ignition and stepped out of the car.

“Hi Derek.” Lydia mused. Derek nodded in reply, and the two fell back behind him, letting him get to the door first. Pausing for a second, Derek looked back at them. Isaac motioned for him to hurry it up and Derek turned back and knocked gently on the front door. Waiting for an answer, he brought up a conversation with the two pack members standing behind him.

“What are you guys doing here?” Alright, so maybe not the best conversation starter but he was nervous about talking to Scott and was curious as to why Isaac and Lydia were here.

“Same reason as you apparently.” Isaac responded. When Lydia and Derek both looked at him, Isaac put his hands up. “What? I can smell the anxiety. Besides, what other reason would you talk to Scott right now Derek? Last time you almost ripped him apart.” Derek nodded, knowing Isaac was right.

“Um…guys,” Lydia pointed to the door. Standing there, was Melissa McCall.

“Hey guys, are you here to talk to Scott?” All three of them nodded.

“Okay, well come in. Just,” Melissa stopped them for a second, “if blood is spilled, you guys clean it up.”

“Hopefully there won’t be blood.” Derek said.

“No chance of that.” Lydia said, showing off her new manicure. Melissa, Derek, and Isaac looked at her strangely. “Obviously I’m not going to spill blood,” she said rolling her eyes, “but I do know how to scream.” Melissa hesitantly nodded at her answer and pointed upstairs.

“He’s been up there all day.” Moving past Mrs. McCall, Derek headed up to where Scott’s room was. Like before, he knocked on the door. There was a sigh from the other side.

“Go away mom, I’m not hungry.” Isaac pushed Derek to the side and just walked right in.

“Obviously your senses are off if you couldn’t smell us.” Scott was sitting in his desk and nearly fell off his chair as he suddenly turned to see Derek, Lydia, and Isaac all standing in his room.

“Hi guys…”

* * *

 

Stiles rolled up to his street in his jeep, just as it started making a weird noise. “No, no, no!” He yelled and hit the steering wheel. “Come on baby, don’t do this now.” Pulling it over to the side of the street, the old jeep died on him. “Drat!” Taking the key out of the ignition, Stiles got out of his jeep and walked the rest of the way to his house. Opening the door, he called out to his dad.

“Yeah Stiles?”

“We’re going to need a tow truck.” His dad came into view from the kitchen, as he was drying his hands with a towel.

“Why?” John asked cautiously.

“My jeep just died.” His dad sighed and Stiles shrugged.

“Sorry.”

“Here, come in here.” Sheriff Stilinski motioned with his head towards the kitchen. Stiles followed and sat at the kitchen counter as his dad continued to do the dishes. “So,” his dad turned, “what else do you got to tell me?” Stiles gaped.

“What? How did you—”

“I’m the Sheriff Stiles.”

“Oh….um well Derek’s coming over for supper. He didn’t want to eat alone and Peter is visiting Cora and—” Stiles started to ramble.

“Say no more,” his dad put a hand up, “we’ll set up another place for him.” Stiles nodded and let out a soft sigh, before getting up and trying to leave the room. “Where do you think you’re going?” John teased, “come help  me with these dishes please.” Stiles moaned but walked over and took the drying towel away from his dad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :) Thanks for reading!


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously: 
> 
> “Obviously your senses are off if you couldn’t smell us.” Scott was sitting in his desk and nearly fell off his chair as he suddenly turned to see Derek, Lydia, and Isaac all standing in his room.
> 
> “Hi guys…”  
> \------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> “Oh….um well Derek’s coming over for supper. He didn’t want to eat alone and Peter is visiting Cora and—” Stiles started to ramble.
> 
> “Say no more,” his dad put a hand up, “we’ll set up another place for him.”

Scott jumped up after he spoke, cautiously looking at the Derek, Isaac, and Lydia. “What do you guys want?”

“Relax,” Lydia scoffed, “we just want to talk.”

“Uh, I don’t know if you remember, but last time I had a ‘talk’,” Scott did quotation marks with his hands, “with any one of you, I was attacked.”

“Yeah, well you deserved it and you healed.” Isaac retorted. “Now sit.” Scott hesitantly sat down on his bed as Lydia came over and sat next to him. Isaac and Derek, however, continued standing. Moments of silence just passed. Derek could practically hear the crickets chirping already, despite it being early afternoon. Looking around, Derek tapped his foot gently, though he shouldn’t be because he’s definitely not nervous and he’s Derek. At least that’s his logic. Up until now, he’s been the “sourwolf”, in Stiles’s opinion, and he’s “emotionally constipated”, in also Stiles’s opinion. He locked eyes on Lydia when she motioned with her head subtly towards Scott, who was currently just staring at Isaac. Derek cleared his throat, causing the attention to shift to him.

“Scott, we, “ Derek crossed his arms, “believe that Stiles isn’t complete without you and the same as you’re not complete without Stiles.”

“What are you guys saying?” Scott questioned slowly.

“We need to find a way to get you two to talk again and make up.” Derek replied.

“We know it’s not going to be easy,” Isaac intervened, “but it’d be worth it.”

“Guys, I don’t think you understand. Stiles won’t even _look_ at me. There’s no way he’d agree to _talk_ to me.” By now Scott was standing up, expressing his words by moving his hands around in various ways that reminded Derek so much of Stiles. Lydia stood up and put her hands on the side of Scott’s arms.

“Scott relax. That’s another reason why we’re here; to find a way to get you two to meet up. That and how you’re going to get back on his good side.”

“Guys, he’s not going to forgive me.” Falling back on his bed, Scott placed his head in his hands. Isaac and Derek both smelled the salty tears, but didn’t say anything about it.

“Yes he will.” Isaac encouraged, “you just got to think of a plan.”

“Well,” Scott straightened up a little, wiping his eyes, “I was thinking about it but they all seem like dumb ideas.”

“Tell us.” Lydia demanded.

“When Stiles and I were younger, we would sometimes watch those cheesy, romantic movies you use to take Jackson to Lydia. The entire time we would laugh, occasionally cry, but we would always make a joke about how if one of us did something drastic, we would have to get some red roses and chocolates and go down on one knee. In the movie’s it always seemed to work to get the girl back.” Shrugging a little, Scott crossed his arms behind his head and fell back on his bed. Derek looked not impressed but when he looked over at Isaac, he was surprised to see the teenager thinking.

“You guys did agree you were the hot girl, Scott.” This caused Scott to lightly laugh.

“Yeah, I remember that.”

“It might work then.” Surprisingly Lydia got on board. When he noticed Lydia staring at him, Derek put his hands up.

“I’m not saying it’s a bad idea,” Isaac groaned, “but what if it doesn’t work?”

“Always the downer Derek.” He looked over to see Isaac slightly glaring at him.

“No he’s right.” Scott said, “but I did have a back-up plan?” The statement was actually a question, which caused Lydia raise her one eyebrow.

“Is it more cheesy than flowers and chocolates?”

“Actually, it involved a 12-pack of Red Bull and the Fast & Furious collection.”

“That’ll work.” Derek smiled at the memory of Stiles freaking out about the 6th movie last year. He had been so excited and to tell the truth, so was Derek, that when Stiles offered to have Derek come with him to see it in theatres, Derek went. And for once in a while, there was nothing happening. It was a chance for Derek to relax and to settle back with a pack member. That was also the day Derek realized his massive crush on the over energetic boy, specifically when they walked into the actually theatre with the screen, and they were the only two in there. Now that _that_ was remembered, he wondered if Stiles had meant for it to be a date.

“Now, about _when_ you will make your big ‘romantic’,” Derek cringed at Lydia’s word choice, “gesture…”

“I could go over tonight and do it? His dad is home usually every Wednesday night and Stiles never misses that if he can’t help it.”

“You can’t.” Derek interrupted before Scott could go further. When he realized all three of them were, _once again,_ staring at him, Derek started to become bashful and to look flustered. “You…I….I’m…”

“Derek, are you trying to say you have a date tonight with Stiles? Because my god, is it time you two got together.” Lydia intervened in his rambling.

“Yes, we…wait what?” Derek backtracked over Lydia’s words. Rolling his eyes at the side, Isaac pushed Derek a little.

“Yes you two are oblivious idiots. But you should probably go home and take a shower.” Isaac crinkled his nose.

“But I…”

“Go Derek!” Lydia this time was the one that got up and pushed Derek. “We can just as easily figure out when Scott and Stiles can meet up.”

“Alright, fine!” Derek threw his hands up, but inside he was happy about how this was all turning out. Now to only get past Stiles’s father.

* * *

 

Stiles nervously tapped his foot. Derek should be here by now and Stiles has already sent him several texts, all to which there was no reply. His father was looking at him weirdly but he just shrugged it off. “He’s probably just as nervous to come here then for me to have him here.” John smiled and nodded, having a feeling that Derek was probably terrified of what this was going to be like. In all honesty though, Derek shouldn’t be worried. John had already given him half the talk at the hospital when Stiles was there. Well, maybe Derek should be a _little_ worried as John still had the other half of the conversation to tell him. When the doorbell rang, Stiles was out of his seat before the word “Hogwarts” could be uttered.

“Derek,” Stiles said, a little out of breath from his heart racing in excitement.

“Hi.” Derek held out some wild flowers for Stiles, as his other hand held some chocolate cupcakes with blue frosting on top. “I’m so sorry I’m late, I just…I forgot the dessert and I just couldn’t bring myself to get out of my car for a few minutes because I’m so worried that you’re father has wolfsbane in the food and then the door looked intimidating and I just, I’m sorry.” Stiles didn’t even try to stop Derek from rambling, not when that’s the longest Derek’s spoke….ever.

“Ah Derek,” his father clapped Derek on the shoulder, “come on in. The food’s ready and I see you brought cupcakes.”

“Yes sir. Sorry I’m late sir.”

“Ah it’s alright. I remember I was about an hour later in meeting Stiles’s grandparents. And no more sir…John is fine.” The sheriff gave Derek a gentle smile and Derek just seemed to relax a bit. Stiles however grew closer on edge. What did this mean? Is his father doing this right? Shouldn’t Derek be getting scolded for being late? Why is his father being so _cool_ about this?

“Right John.” Sheriff Stilinski’s name felt weird and awkward on Derek’s tongue but he managed to speak…and walk all the way to the kitchen table without tripping or doing something embarrassing. He sat down on the long side of the rectangular table, in the middle of John, at the head of the table, and Stiles, at the bottom of the table. He was also really glad when the food set out was spaghetti, not that he was picky or anything; he just really enjoys noodles.

Surprisingly when they eat, there’s a light banter going around the table and sometimes John would throw in an amusing story of Stiles when he was younger. Derek felt like he was at home again, with his mother and father, with his aunts and uncles, with his cousins, with his brothers and sisters. It was easy-going and amazing to Derek and the entire time he was smiling. _This could be your life._ A voice whispered in his head. _You could have all of this again._

“So,” John said, folding his napkin onto the table and staring up at the two, “is this when you tell me you two are together?” Derek freezes, completely, while Stiles just says “Dad!” really loudly. “What? You guys aren’t exactly subtle about it and why else would Derek come over to eat? He hasn’t in the past when Cora went back to South America.”

“Dad, I was going to tell you.” Stiles said at the same time Derek said,

“I’m not going to hurt him.”

“You better not.” A dark gleam appeared in the Sheriff’s eye. “Because I know where Chris Argent is and I can easily obtain wolfsbane from the next-next-door neighbors garden.” Derek hummed a little, finally pleased to know why he has to go the long way around to Stiles’s house when the grass is cut at that house.

“Yes sir.” Derek looked down, something used to know submission within a pack.

“Hey head up, time for dessert.” John simply stated with a grin.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:
> 
> “You better not.” A dark gleam appeared in the Sheriff’s eye. “Because I know where Chris Argent is and I can easily obtain wolfsbane from the next-next-door neighbors garden.” Derek hummed a little, finally pleased to know why he has to go the long way around to Stiles’s house when the grass is cut at that house. 
> 
> “Yes sir.” Derek looked down, something used to know submission within a pack.
> 
> “Hey head up, time for dessert.” John simply stated with a grin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright so this has some Lydia/Isaac in it towards the end. It's totally platonic. It's like brother/sister. If you want more of it, let me know in a comment. :)
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Oh yes, and the reason I've updated so much tonight is because I'm just catching up from my fanfiction site. I have this story up there. The chapter numbers are different because I've combined them on this site - just in case you go look this story up on there (same name, same author name)
> 
> Also if you guys know how to add photos, can you please comment? Because I have no idea how to. :)

The rest of the time went fairly well actually. After eating the chocolate cupcakes Derek brought, Stiles pulled Derek away the second his father’s back was turned. A faint shout, “STILES!”, was heard from the kitchen. Stiles shot him an innocent look. “Oops?” Derek lightly rolled his eyes at the childish behavior but said nothing. The Sheriff must’ve decided to leave it at that because there wasn’t another shout. Stiles lightly pulled on Derek’s wrist until they were in his room, where Stiles locked the door right away. Derek was about to say something before Stiles interrupted with a kiss. “You were perfect tonight and I’d find it hard to believe if he doesn’t like you now.” Stiles deepened the kiss and Derek allowed him to, getting trapped in the want to touch more of Stiles. However, a light flickered on in Derek’s head and he pulled away, though he hated it greatly.

“Your dad is downstairs.” This time is was Stiles who rolled his eyes.

“I know that.”

“I really don’t want to do anything that I could get kicked out for. Besides…sexing you up,” Derek wiggled his fantastic eyebrows, “after I just met your father doesn’t seem like a good idea.” A small pout crossed Stiles face before the teenager sighed.

“You’re right. Next time.” There might’ve been a not-so-subtle wink from Stiles, but Derek ignored it as Stiles led him to the bed. “Until then, movie night!” Stiles declared. “Which movie do you want to see? I have all the Marvel and Batman movies.”

“If that’s not a hint, I don’t know what is.” Derek teased.

“Batman it is then!” Enthusiastically, Stiles put the first Batman into the DVD player, grabbed the remote, and then hopped onto the bed, leaning on Derek’s shoulder. Stunned for a moment with Stiles’s movements, Derek paused a few seconds before throwing an arm around Stiles, bringing him closer.

“I’m not a big fan of the beginning.” Stiles mumbled the confession. “I don’t like seeing them die.” Cocking his head a little, Derek looked at Stiles. He assumed that the beginning reminded him that his father could die the same way…by gunshot, and since his mother has already passed, he’d be left an orphan. Hesitantly, and after a few times of opening and closing his mouth, Derek asked the question on his mind.

“Was Batman your mom’s favorite superhero?” The surprise of the question made Stiles jump.

“What?” Clearing his throat a little, Derek tried again.

“Was he your mom’s favorite superhero?” All around them, the air seemed to still before a quick nod from Stiles unfroze it.

“Yeah…she always called me Batman too, but that might’ve had more to do with the fact that I used to jump off of everything, even the roof.”

“You jumped off the roof?” Derek raised an eyebrow.

“Hey! I was only 7! I didn’t know any better and I learned my lesson after spending a few hours in the ER with my mom giving me a lecture about how Batman can’t fly, he glides.” Derek couldn’t help not laughing. He could so picture the energetic, seven-year-old Stiles tying a sheet around his neck and then trying to fly off his roof. Stiles lightly punched Derek in response, but smiled nonetheless. “Shut up…” Turning slightly red, Stiles turned his attention back to the movie.

“Sorry, that was a good story though. Especially since everyone knows Batman can’t fly.”

“I never should’ve told you that…” Stiles groaned. “I’m never going to live it down.”

“Nope.” Derek popped the ‘p’ and smirked. A surprising knock came from the door, and then a voice traveled through.

“Stiles I have to go. There’s a ten-sixteen and a ten-thirty-two so they want me to come in for back-up.”

“Alright. Stay safe!”

“Behave you two.” With that, Derek listened as John walked down the stairs and out of the house, and then went on his way to the station.

* * *

 

**Lydia’s POV**

* * *

 

After the visit with Stiles in the hospital, Lydia took Isaac back to her place. Her parents were gone for a week on a business trip, so there were no worries from that end. “Do you want something to drink?”

“Water please.”

“Alright, one water coming up.” As she poured herself a glass of wine, and Isaac some water, Lydia hummed a little. Turning around, she handed it right to the curly haired boy. “Here you go.”

“Thanks.” Isaac looked around awkwardly, causing Lydia to take his upper arm and help walk him to her room.

“I have a feeling you were going to stay with Scott, so you can stay here instead.”

“In here?” He asked, his voice raised a little, as he sat on the bed.

“No, on the floor. Yes in here.” When Isaac gave her a look, Lydia continued, “Just platonically.” Her heart beat skipped a little, but Isaac didn’t mention it.

“Come here.” He motioned for her to come closer, which she did. Taking her wine glass out of her hand, and putting it on a nearby table, Isaac pulled her onto the bed next to him. Leaning back on the pillows, Isaac put his arms out. “It’s going to be okay.” Lydia lied down next to him and put an arm on his chest, snuggling next to him. “It’s going to be okay.” Isaac whispered it this time as he put an arm around her, trailing circles on her arm.

“It’s my fault.” She managed to say. “I should’ve said something sooner. If I wasn’t so caught up in acting like I wasn’t smart…”

“Lydia, don’t blame yourself. Yes you might’ve seen something but it’s not like you could’ve known for sure. Stiles is…he’s a good liar and sometimes he’s too smart for his own good. But he has help now. He has us.”

“That’s true but…” Isaac put a finger over her lips.

“No but’s. Stop blaming yourself.” Lydia looked up at him and a tear fell out of her semi-red eyes, her skin getting a little blotchy, but not much. Looking down at her, Isaac put a hand on her cheek and brushed away her tear line, then giving her a kiss on her forehead, Isaac placed his hand on top of hers. “It’s going to be alright.”

 

When the two woke up in the morning, their legs were intertwined and Isaac was still holding onto her. “I don’t want to get up…” Lydia mumbled into Isaac, whose shirt came off some time in the night due to the heat between the two bodies (and because Isaac has a higher temperature due to being a werewolf).

“Then don’t.” Isaac quietly said as he started to get up, “I’ll be back with some coffee.”

“You’re the best Isaac.”


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is my one of my humor chapters. :) Hope you all like Scrabble...

Stiles yawned and curled up closer to Derek, who was pretty much a blanket considering the amount of heat the werewolf gave off. After talking about his mom a little and getting teased, Stiles kind of clammed up. He didn't necessarily want to but it's a touchy subject. Derek, however, seemed to understand and anything else said was movie comments. But now that he was thinking about family, Stiles started thinking about the Hale fire. Does Derek go visit their grave every year or does he just send flowers to it? What type of flowers? Does he cry when he sees the stones or show no emotion at all? Does he talk or is he silent? Does he ask forgiveness for trusting Kate?  The questions stopped circling in his head for a moment when the real Derek next to him fidgeted.

 

“Stop thinking,” the gruff voice moaned, “it’s too early.” Derek moved a hand up to cover his eyes.

 

“How’d you know I was awake?”

 

“Your heartbeat sped up, now shush.”

 

“My heartbeat changed?”

 

“Stiles…”

 

“Alright shutting up.”

 

“Thank you.” It was silent for a few minutes, Stiles moving his head to stare at Derek. A huff came from the sourwolf.

 

“What?”

 

“What does my heartbeat sound like? Does it sound different than others? How can you tell the difference between someone sleeping and awake?” Rolling onto his side, Stiles just looked at him, eyes full of a new found curiosity.

 

“Your heartbeat sounds similar to everyone else. The only difference is that every five beats there’s an uppity sound, kind of like a small hiccup. And I think you know the answer to the last question.” Derek quickly breathed out.

 

“Maybe I just want to hear it in your words.” This time when he spoke, Derek turned his head to the side, watching Stiles.

 

“When you’re asleep, it’s slow. When you’re awake, it beats faster. That’s pretty much all there is to it.”

 

“Wow…very descriptive.” Stiles sarcastically replied. He was shocked when Derek rolled over on top of him, inches from his face and his body not completely touching his. They were silent for a few minutes, Derek just staring at him with what Stiles perceived to be wonder and lust. Stiles looked back but his eyes glazed over Derek’s face rather than just stare at Derek’s eyes.

 

“You want to know how it is?” Hesitantly, Stiles nodded at the question. “When you’re asleep, I know you’re safe. Your heart is slow and steady, nightmares not counting. I know that you’re resting after a long day and you’ll be fine.” Derek stared at him the entire time, his eyes just boring into Stiles’s and Stiles found it nearly impossible to look away. “When you’re awake, I’m constantly worried. You could be in danger. You could be in trouble. You could be doing so many things and I never know what to do. I want to be next to you every day and protect you but I can’t and it hurts. And I know I fall hard way to fast,” Derek’s eyes seemed to soften and show hurt in them as memories rushed through his head, “and I know I should stop but I can’t.” He confessed.

 

“Derek…” Stiles tried to intervene, but was cut off.

 

“I love you Stiles and I’m scared. I don’t want to hurt you. You’re just human and I’m not saying that’s a bad thing but what if I lose control? What if something happens and I can’t protect you? What if yo—” The rambling got caught off as Stiles leaned up and kissed him.

 

“Derek Alexander Hale, there is always going to a leap when it comes to love. And I know you’re scared but I’m right here…I’m not going anywhere anytime soon. Besides, I know a few tricks when it comes to defending myself.” Taking his arms and using them to pull Derek down into a hug, Stiles whispered, “You’re not going to lose control. I trust you.”

 

“But—”

 

“No buts. I trust you and that’s final. It’s never going to change.”

 

 

**A Week Later: Approximately 6:15 p.m.**

 

Derek happened to be over again for supper, this time because his dad invited him. Apparently if the Sheriff was to see if Derek was right for Stiles, a game of Scrabble was in order. But really it’s because Derek had confronted John Stilinski and told him about the ‘Scott Forgiveness’ plan. It had taken a few minutes to convince the Sheriff why but eventually John started to see why. Then he confessed that this was the longest they’ve been mad at each other and while it’s for a good reason, the two would be lost without each other. “I hope this works.” Mr. Stilinski took Derek off to the side in the kitchen as he got out a glass of water. Derek nodded, looking down at the ground.

 

“Me too.” The Sheriff patted the werewolf on the shoulder.

 

“Chin up.”

 

“Yes sir.” Following Stiles’s father back into the living room, where the Scrabble game was in the process of being set up, Derek faintly smiled. Scott was supposed to arrive in about fifteen minutes and Derek’s nerves were just beginning to skyrocket. Sitting down next to Stiles, he received a funny look.

 

“You okay?”

 

“I’m fine, just nervous about the game.”

 

“You can’t be that bad.” Derek shrugged.

 

“I haven’t played this since…the fire.” His voice got really quiet for a second but he shook his head, trying to get the fire memories out. “But don’t worry…I was reigning champion at my house.” Derek bragged, maybe a little over exaggerating.

 

“Hah! Well not anymore!” Stiles said dramatically, “there’s a different champion in this house!” The Sheriff snorted.

 

“Says the person who’s lost every time for the past three years.” Stiles put a hand over his father’s mouth.

 

“Father, you say such profanities!” John pulled his son’s hand off and gave all three of them some letters, before putting down the first word, NAUSEA. “Seven points.”

 

“I see your word and raise you up, LIBERTY, twelve points” Stiles declared.

 

“ **FATE** , fifteen points.”

 

“Really? A four letter word?” Stiles in disbelief.

 

“Hey,” Derek shrugged, which he seemed to be doing a lot, “fifteen points.”

 

“ **FAMISH** , sixteen points, because I’m apparently not allowed to have bacon anymore.” A slight, small glare was thrown Stiles’s way, but it was quickly ignored as Stiles played his word.

 

“ **SARCASM** , twelve points. An example would be ‘Of course dad. Have all the bacon in the world.’”

 

“ **WISH** , thirty-six points. You wish you were going to win this game.” Derek stuck his tongue out, as Stiles’s mouth just dropped a little.

 

“You two are being childish.” The Sheriff scowled a little, “ **NARWHAL** , seventeen points.”

 

“ **QUITS** , for a hundred fourteen.” Derek looked at Stiles in shock and a ‘what the heck’ expression with his eyebrows.

 

“ **SCREAM** , twenty-six.”

 

“ **QUIET** , forty-two points.”

 

“ **IMPOTENT** , fifty-two points.”

 

“And now I’m going to play… **FAMILIES** for one hundred sixty-eight points.”

 

“Well you guys are playing well and everything,” John began, “but here is **PANACEA** , for..” his face dropped for a second before a ‘darn it!’ look appeared, “thirteen points.” Stiles gave his father a ‘really?’ look.

 

“ **YOLO** , for fourteen points.” Stiles said triumphantly cried.

 

“You can’t play that!” The werewolf began to argue, “That’s not even a word…that’s an acronym!”

 

“Yes you can!”

 

“Stiles, you can’t do that.” His father joined in.

 

“Look-”

 

The doorbell rang.

 

“This isn’t over,” Stiles said imperiously, before standing to let the interloper in. Derek and John both rolled their eyes simultaneously. And then Stiles caught sight of Derek’s letters, arranged to form the word **BONDAGE**. His mouth dropped. Holy shi-

 

The doorbell rang again.

 

Derek noticed that Stiles had seen his letters. The tips of Derek’s ears turned fire truck red.

 

“Stiles, get the door!” the Sheriff snapped, glaring suspiciously at Derek, who tossed his letters onto the board, mixing everything up.

 

Stiles pointed his finger at Derek. “This isn’t over.” He left and opened the front door to find Scott. He shut the door. His talk with Derek suddenly seemed more important.

 

“Come with me,” he growled at the werewolf, grabbing Derek’s arm and dragging him to the upstairs bathroom.

 

“Stiles,” Derek protested. “You should talk to Scott.” Stiles huffed under his breath. Of course, Derek had known that Scott was coming over. That would be a conversation for another time- keeping secrets, that hypocrite. He turns around and faces Derek.

 

“Are you into that sort of thing?” Stiles blurted out.

 

“What?” Derek gave him a confused look, until he remembered the word he’d had on the table and his ears immediately flushed. “No!” Well, that was a fast denial. A bit too fast.Stiles looked at Derek, doubtfully.

 

“No, I’m not,” Derek protested. “It was just a joke.” He didn’t seem to be lying. Then again, he hadn’t mentioned that Scott would be dropping by.

 

“It was just a joke,” Derek repeated. Who was he trying to convince?

 

“Okay,” Stiles accepted suspiciously. Now he had to go face his ex-best friend. He turned around and unlocked the bathroom door. And as he walked away, he could’ve sworn he heard Derek mutter,

 

“Although maybe if I gagged you, you finally keep quiet for more than two seconds.” He spun back around and gaped at Derek. Derek tilted his head innocently, but raised his eyebrows challengingly. It was Stiles turn to flush, bright red spots appearing on his cheeks and neck.

 

“I- you- you-” Stiles sputtered for a couple seconds before he gave up and stormed back to the front door where Scott was waiting. He couldn’t deal with Derek at the moment- had he been serious or was it really just a joke?- but he could hopefully deal with Scott. And Scott had better be apologizing major double time because he wanted his best friend back.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will Stiles and Scott make up?

Opening the door on the count of three, Stiles was shocked still. Somehow Scott was juggling red bull, six movies, a video game or two, some red roses in one hand, and some chocolate. Along with a huge bag of sour patch kids’ candy.

 

“Uh…”

 

“I didn’t know what plan to go with.” Scott blurted out.

 

“Okay?” Stiles said, still really confused. Managing to set down the red bull, movies and video games, Scott got down on one knee. Scott cleared his throat several times.

 

“Stiles…I’ve been a complete ass to you, the worst friend. I can’t believe I did that to you bud. I promise you I will never do it again. I should’ve realized something was wrong. There’s a lot of things I should’ve done and what I shouldn’t have done. I feel really, really bad. And Stiles, you’re my best friend and I’m so lucky to have you. So please, please, please forgive me. I love you bro.” He held out the flowers and chocolate for Stiles to take, his eyes slightly watering as the thought of what would happen if Stiles didn’t forgive him or if he had lost Stiles that day. “Dude, I really love you and I can’t imagine life without you. And I wasn’t sure what to bring so I brought the red bull and the entire Fast & Furious movie collection and I brought a few video games that I know you don’t have. And I also brought the flowers and chocolates from when we were younger and decided that would be how we would make up to eac—” Scott was stunned into silence as Stiles started laughing.

 

“Oh—My—God…I can’t believe you remember that!” Stiles nearly doubled over laughing at the thought that Scott had taken him seriously when he said that as a child. Honestly he was just kidding, but he guessed at the time (even now) Scott sometimes doesn’t know that.

 

Managing to stop laughing, Stiles stood up as straight as possible and took the flowers. “Why thank you kind sir.” He said, mimicking the voice of a girl. To be even more dramatic, Stiles leaned down and pecked Scott’s cheek. When he pulled back and saw Scott’s face of questioning and confusion, Stiles started laughing again. “I accept your apology…now come on in. Derek’s over and we’re going to have second supper soon. Then I’ll kick Derek out and we can have bro time via Fast & Furious!” Stiles jumped in the air, happy that he was going to watch his favorite movie series again. When he turned the corner though, he almost ran into Derek, whose face was emotionless. “Oh heya Derek!” He said cheerfully. “Time to eat again.”

 

“I have to go.” Derek grabbed his jacket from the nearby jacket hanger and headed out the door.

 

“Derek?” Now it was Stiles’s turn to be bewildered.

 

“What crawled up his butt and died?” Scott voiced from being, equally sharing the confusion.

 

“No idea.” Stiles shrugged, still looking at the door. He shook his head before turning around.

 

“I’m not going to deal with that right now. Instead, we’re going to have second supper and then watch movies and drink red bull!” Stiles declared, marching into the kitchen. Getting some leftovers out, he warmed the Mac & Cheese up for both him and Scott. After the microwave beeped, Stiles pulled it out, exclaiming about how hot it was. He took a glance at the front door before heading up to his room with Scott. “Let the F-squared marathon commence!”  He jumped onto his bed and put the food right in-between Scott, who was just climbing on the bed, and him. Turning on the TV, Stiles made a quick glance at the bedroom door and then the window before tuning in to the movie previews. Despite having Scott over and watching his favorite movie series, Stiles felt distracted and he noticed that he often looked over at the window. When Scott paused the first movie a little more than halfway through, Stiles looked at him extremely guiltily.

 

“No dude.” Scott held up his hands, “I owe you anyway. I know I’ve done it to you. Go on. I’ll clean up here and we can chill some other time.”

 

“Really?” Stiles gave him a puppy dog look, causing Scott to laugh.

 

“Yeah man, go on. Go see where Derek’s gone off to sulk.”

 

“Thanks bro.” Stiles jumped off of the bed and hurried down to his jeep. Then as he closed the jeep door, realized he didn’t even grab the keys. Groaning, he went back inside and grabbed the keys off the counter. “See you later!” He slightly yelled, before racing back outside.

 

Turning the key in the ignition, Stiles pulled out of the driveway at a speed probably not legal and then drove off down the street….at a speed most likely not legal. He went the first place he knew where Derek would be, the loft. Upon pulling into the parking lot, Stiles took up two parking spots and nearly ran up the stairs to the loft’s large door. Coughing a little, Stiles knocked on the door. A gruff “GO AWAY STILES” echoed from within.

 

“Let me in Sourwolf!” Stiles angrily replied back. “You can’t hide from me forever and storming out of my house like that was rude!” When Derek didn’t answer back, Stiles sighed. “I’m coming in Derek.” Upon opening the door, he noticed how there was no one in the main room and it was extremely quiet. “Derek?” He called out…no reply. Huffing, Stiles closed the loft door and made his way to the spiral stairs to head up to the second floor. To his surprise, that’s exactly where Derek was, sitting on the upstairs recliner chair facing outside watching the sunset. He noticed though that the rest of the room had some papers ripped up and spread out and the table was turned over. “Derek…” He breathed out, and walked over to him. Kneeling down, he noticed how Derek refused to meet his eyes. “What’s going on?” A few seconds passed. “This isn’t funny. What’s wrong?” Surprising Stiles yet again, Derek stood up.

 

“You kissed Scott.” The statement was blunt, but Stiles could feel the hurt behind it.

 

“Look at me.” Stiles gently said, standing up as well and moving a little closer to Derek. Another few seconds passed and Derek slowly moved his head up, revealing red eyes.

 

“You kissed Scott.” Derek repeated again.

 

“I thought this was your idea to get Scott and I to forgive each other.”

 

“I never said that.”

 

“You didn’t have to, I know you. Just like right now,” Stiles stepped even closer, their bodies just a short amount of inches apart, “I know that you’re acting jealous.”

 

“You _kissed_ him though.” Derek defended himself, not even denying his jealousy.

 

“On the cheek though.”

 

“It…” Derek struggled with his words, unsure how to say that werewolves are generally possessive of their mates and seeing Stiles even that close to Scott, really, really irked Derek’s inner wolf. “You’re not supposed to kiss him.” Was the lame sentence Derek came up with…and he knew it wasn’t even close to explaining how he felt.

 

Closing the space in-between them, Stiles reached up and pulled Derek’s face down to meet his. “I like you. Okay? Nothing is ever going to change that.”

 

“Okay.” Derek managed to say and shifted on his feet.

 

“Good.” Stiles smiled and backed up. However this must’ve been a day for surprises because Derek rushed forward, picking him up and placing him against a nearby wall, kissing him hard as soon as his back came in contact with the creamy yellow walls.

 

“You’re mine.” He said possessively, kissing Stiles again with more passion than usual. After a couple more kisses, Stiles pulled away.

 

“And you’re mine.”

 

 


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something is brewing...

With the night fallen, not one person could predict the chaos that would soon ensue within the next couple of days. On the brink of Beacon Hills, there stood a woman. She wasn’t particularly old, but she clearly wasn’t young either, probably late-thirties to early-forties.  A dark grey robe was draped over her shoulders and the rest of her outfit seemed to fit the memo, dark greys and a pair of jet black boots, which were dull in the moonlight. The boots seemed to be a mix between combat and high heels, not exactly the walking through forest type, which was where she started to walk into. Under the cover of night, the woman disappeared between the tall trees.

 

* * *

 

 

When Stiles woke up in the morning, he was surprised when he found Derek right next to him still. Not that he didn’t like it, but last time they slept together at Derek’s loft, Derek had left the bed early to make breakfast. Pleasantly surprised, he wrapped his arms around Derek and snuggled closer.

 

“What are you doing?” Derek mumbled.

 

“I’m snuggling.” Just to prove his sentence, he tried to cuddle closed.

 

“Ugh, you smell.”

 

“That’s not a nice thing to say.”

 

“But it’s the truth.” Derek retorted jokingly. Stiles lightly hit Derek’s chest. The two cuddle-birds were interrupted by Stiles cell phone suddenly going off. Hurriedly, Stiles reached over Derek to where his cell phone lied next to the bed lamp.

 

“Hello?” Stiles gruffly answered.

 

“Oh my god…Stiles…I don’t know…I can’t…” Scott’s panicked voice sent Stiles in an upright position.

 

“What’s wrong?” Before he even got the last word out, he scrambled out of bed and started to put on a pair of jeans and shoes.

 

“It’s Isaac…I don’t know…I can’t…Stiles help.” Scott pleaded through the phone, making Stiles’s heartache.

 

“Derek and I will be right over.”  Turning to tell Derek to get ready, the sight of Derek already holding up the car keys surprised him. Stiles would’ve smiled, but all that was running through his head was what was happening with Isaac. Sprinting to the car, Stiles and Derek quickly pulled out of the parking lot and illegally sped down the road towards Scott’s.

 

When they got there, Isaac was on the ground in his room, covering his head with his hands and his mouth was open in a silent scream. Stiles cringed, seeing as Isaac was on the urge of hyperventilating, but there was no time to waste. “Scott, did you try to growl?”

 

“What?” Scott’s voice was high and somewhat panicked.

 

“Growling! Did you try to Alpha him?” Stiles narrowed his eyes. They needed to wake Isaac up now.

 

“No...”

 

“Do it!” Derek lightly shoved Scott as he yelled, to try and emphasis, though it could’ve gone without. Stiles watched as Scott hesitated and he shook his head. Yelling as loud as he could, Stiles tried to wake Isaac up himself.

 

“ISAAC LAHEY, YOU WAKE UP RIGHT NOW!” Isaac twitched at his loud voice, which was more than what Scott had apparently gotten in response. “Isaac, come on man! You need to wake up!” Suddenly Scott was right next to his hear, growling. Stiles was reminded of when he was enraptured in the Japanese Go game with the Nogitsune for a second. However, he quickly set that off to the side when Isaac jolted up. “Oh thank…” He trailed off and started touching Isaac’s face, searching for injuries. “What the hell Isaac? What was happening?” Isaac looked up at Stiles, and then Derek and Scott, before his cobalt blue eyes started to water and he flung himself onto Stiles, holding his friend close.

 

“Isaac…” Stiles voice softened dramatically.

 

“It—it wa—was terrible. I could—could hear y—you guys but I couldn’t wake up.” The curly blonde hair werewolf wrapped himself tighter against Stiles and breathed in Stiles’s scent. Stiles could feel Derek tense up a little but he managed to move a hand away from Isaac to lightly touch Derek, to assure him that everything was alright.

 

“I need you to tell me some more, okay Isaac?” Sniffing, Isaac pulled away and wiped his eyes, suddenly aware that he was crying like a newborn baby.

 

“I’m sorry.” The apology made Stiles shake his head.

 

“You have nothing to be sorry for.” Isaac nodded and took a couple deep breaths before starting to calmly explain what was happening.

 

“She was in my head.”

 

“Who?” Stiles pushed gently, but all Isaac did was shake his head.

 

“She said her name was Walmra, but that doesn’t mean anything to me.” There was a quick look between Scott and Derek but Stiles ignored it, focusing on Isaac.

 

“That’s okay.”

 

“She…” Isaac swallowed, “she knew things about me and my previous home life. She knew things that I’ve never told anyone. She taunted me and…” A shudder overcame Isaac’s body and he just hugged Stiles again, starting to cry again.

 

“Derek, what could’ve done this?” Stiles put his hand around Isaac’s head and played with his hair to try and calm him.

 

“A witch.” A nasty look came onto the werewolf’s face. “I can’t stand them.”

 

“Clearly.” The three of them sat in silence, listening to Isaac’s soft cries and whimpers.

 

“Isaac, it’s okay. She can’t get you now.” Stiles felt Isaac move his head in agreement and lightly sighed. And then, Scott’s cell phone rang. Derek and him exchanged a dark look as Scott opened it.

 

“Hello?”

 

“Scott? Is Kira with you?” Lydia’s voice came through loud and clear, and Scott looked puzzled.

 

“No, why?”

 

“We were supposed to go shopping and she never turned up. I just talked to her dad and he said she left a few minutes ago. She should be here by now.”

 

“Just be patient.”

 

“Scott!” Lydia barked, “it doesn’t take that long to get from her house to mine. You could walk in the amount of time she’s been gone.”

 

“Maybe she took a detour?” Scott suggested, looking helplessly at the three people staring at him.

 

“Not a chance.”

 

“We’ll be right over.”

 

“We?”

 

“Yeah, Derek, Stiles, Isaac and I.”

 

“Good, then I don’t have to call them myself.” Lydia beat Scott to hanging up. Scott just gave them a look before leaving the room to get his bike out of the garage.

 

“Come on Isaac, we have to find Kira.”

 

“I know…I heard.” Isaac lightly smiled. “You can stop mothering me now.”

 

“Alright pookie-pie,” Stiles play pinched Isaac’s cheek, “But in all seriousness, I’m here for you. Now let’s go.” Grabbing Isaac’s hand and then Derek’s, he pulled the two werewolves outside to the Camaro.

 

* * *

 

 

Lydia was standing next to her car, impatiently tapping her foot and constantly looking around. When they parked and got out, she marched over to them. “Finally! She’s been missing at least fifteen minutes now.”

 

“Calm down, we’ll find her.” Scott said. “Why don’t we each drive around and see if we can hear something? Lydia and Isaac, you guys can come with me in Lydia’s car. We can each drive the different ways to get to Lydia’s house then.” Nodding, the group of five broke up and got into their separate cars. They were driving around for a few minutes when Stiles saw Derek straighten up.

 

“What?” He asked, looking around wildly, trying desperately to see if he could find something.

 

“Shush…” A few seconds passed. “Call Scott. I found her.” Derek aggressively turned into an abandoned farm’s parking lot.

 

“Scott?” Stiles glanced over at Derek. “Yeah, we found her.” Looking around, he couldn’t find any street signs. “Do you know where the abandoned farm is?” He faintly heard his best friend ask Lydia.

 

“Yeah, we’ll be right there.” Opening the car door, Stiles leaned against the front of Derek’s Camaro and Derek came out to join him, waiting for the others to arrive. Lydia’s black car pulled into the area in less than a minute, with Scott at the wheel. As soon as the car was stopped, Scott had practically jumped out. “She’s here?” Derek started to speak when a scream hit the ground. When they got ran into the forest, there was a small opening not too far in where Kira was holding her head similar to how Isaac was and was screaming in deafening tones.

_Always second best to Allison_

_Parents couldn’t trust you enough to tell you you’re a Kitsune_

_You’re life is a lie_

_Always moving_

_Never any friends_

 

Scott snarled and grabbed onto Kira’s hard, yanking her away. Feeling the weak bond between Kira and her break, the witch just smirked and held up her hands, pointing them at the five-foot-three, strawberry-blonde teen that was standing right next to Stiles. Pulled by some force, Lydia turned and started walking towards the woman.

 

“Lydia!” Stiles tried grabbing Lydia’s arm and was pushed off by her. “Stop it Lydia!”

Lydia just stared into the witch’s eyes, hypnotized. “Lydia!” Stiles yelled again. “Lydia, come on! Snap out of it!” When Lydia took another step closer, Stiles tried running out in front of her but was held back by Derek’s arm. “Let me go Derek!” His voice was full of rage.

 

_Popular_

_Misunderstood_

_Never show yourself._

_Can’t show yourself._

_Parents fighting again_

_They don’t care for you_

_Otherwise they would try to hide their yelling._

 

When that didn’t seem to work, the witch went deeper into Lydia’s mind.

 

_Aidan died._

_You couldn’t save him._

_Jackson…_

 

A loud snarl came from nearby and everyone paused for a second, unsure what was happening. The werewolves clearly had no idea who it was. The witch, however, took the distraction to an advantage and sent more painful messages to Lydia.

 

_He left._

_You’re alone._

_You don’t belong._

_You’re a banshee in a group of werewolves._

_You’re best friend died and you couldn’t save her._

 

Tears started pouring out of Lydia’s eyes, but she kept steady.

 

_You couldn’t even predict her death._

_And you call yourself a banshee._

_I bet you don’t even know what you can do._

_Pathetic._

_All that power wasted._

 

She couldn’t send anymore messages though as the snarl got louder. Once again she paused, but this time it was because something attacked her. She screamed high pitch and then in a wisp of air, she disappeared. Everyone just stared at the newcomer, most of them unsure of how to act. Lydia was the first to move, stepping, or rather racing, angrily to the person, and slapped them…hard across the face. “How dare you?!” And just for good measure, Lydia grabbed Jackson’s face and pulled his face down, kissing him hard.

 

Stiles, along with everyone else, looked on, just staring at the emotional rollercoaster event, but he shrugged, knowing that Jackson was an asshole when he left and suddenly he’s back. Part of the shrug was also out of relief that Lydia was no longer in danger. Exhausted, Stiles leaned onto Derek’s shoulder and sighed. “She’ll be back.”

 

“I know.” Derek lightly said. “But this time we have one more person to help fight.” When Lydia and Jackson broke away, Lydia turned slightly red and Jackson just gave a small wave, using his other arm to secure Lydia by his side.

 

“When’d you get back?” Scott questioned.

 

“A few hours ago.” Jackson shrugged in response. “I got the ticket a few months ago.”

 

“How’d you find us?”

 

“By chance really.” Another shrug. “I was driving around town trying to find Lydia’s car, but then I saw the jeep and Camaro.”

 

“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” Lydia narrowed her eyes at him, but somehow she made them soften at the same time.

 

“Element of surprise.” As if to further prove his statement, Jackson kissed Lydia again.

 

“Ugh…now I have to put up with them making out again?” Stiles groaned.

 

“Deal with it Stilinski.”

 

“My name’s Stiles genius.” Jackson rolled his eyes and Stiles smiled. “Nice to see you Jacky.” The nickname got Jackson to growl at him, to which Derek quickly replied with a louder growl. Shock registered on Jackson’s face, and Stiles lightly laughed. “Derek, it’s okay.” He said earnestly, “Really, it is.”

 

“But that’s a challenge…” Derek tried to protest but was interrupted by Stiles and Scott laughing loudly.

 

“Dude, Stiles is yours.” Scott said, clapping Derek on the shoulder. Jackson’s confused face was ignored by others laughter at Derek’s blush that turned into a scowl.

 

“Well now that Jackson is back, let’s meet up at Derek’s loft. It’s big enough for everyone, and we can order pizza while we’re at it.”

 

“Let’s go then.”

 

* * *

 

 

Entering the loft, the lot of them sat down on the two couches, Stiles on Derek’s lap with Derek playing with his hair, Lydia and Jackson sitting right next to each other, and Isaac sitting next to Scott who was playing with Kira’s hand. “So what is she doing? Just sending mental messages to people?” Scott asked. “That can’t just be it…she’s looking for something.”

 

“She’s looking for weakness.” Derek said. “She’s trying to see who the weakest link is, and use that to her advantage.” This unsettled the lot of them and a few squirmed in their seats.

 

“What else do we know about her?” Stiles broke the silence.

 

“Her name is Walmra. She’s a solitary witch, not fitting into any of the categories and uses magic for her own gain. She had powerful mind magic which allows her to send thoughts to each of us individually, or as a large group.” Lydia leaned off of Jackson and folded her hands in her lap. In turn, Jackson started to lightly rub her back. “She has the ability to change her appearance and turn invisible at times, known as cloaking. Discord and dream leaping seem to be a specialty of hers.”

 

“How do you know that?” Kira gave her an indescribable face.

 

“When she reached out to my mind, I got into hers. I doubt she knew I was there. It’s a two-way street anyways.”

 

“Wait,” Stiles held up his hand, “does that mean you're purposely put yourself in danger to get information?”

 

“No.” She scowled at the question, “It was just an upside to her saying those idiotic things to me.”

 

“Well great…this is going to be fun.” Isaac sarcastically said. The pack fell back into silence, all in their own thoughts, and was pulled out when the alarm for the loft started going off.

 

“It’s probably the pizza guy.” Stiles said, jumping up and going to the loft door while Derek hurried to shut off the loud, annoying alarm.

 

Sure enough, the pizza guy…or gal, was just coming up the stairs, completely unaware of the noise that was going off a few seconds ago. Paying for the pizza, ignoring Derek’s protests that he could pay, Stiles took the pizza and walked back into the middle of the loft where the others were waiting. “Put your tongues back in your mouths.” Stiles took a crack at a dog joke, making everyone groan out loud. “Okay, okay! No more dog jokes.” He said as seriously as he could, knowing that sooner, rather than later, he’ll make another one. Setting down the pizza, they all dug in. “I swear it’s like you’re all wolves!” He declared, throwing his hands up. This joke got him a slap upside the head by Kira.

 

 


	20. Chapter 20

 

The air was icy cold. It wasn't supposed to be though…it's California. A shiver ran down his spine, chilling him to the core. When he tried to open his eyes, he realized they were crusted over with something. Stiffly, he brought his hands up and rubbed at them. Feeling like he had gotten a majority of whatever was on his face off, Stiles opened his eyes. Everywhere he looked he saw white and light shade of blue. By now he started to shake and he, very slowly, got up, the pain from his legs from being cold so long slowing him even further. Once upright, he noticed there weren’t any trees...or birds, or anything that would normally signal life. Stiles wrapped his arms around himself and realized that he was wearing one of Derek’s black shirts. Derek...where is he?

 

Blindly, Stiles stumbled around, trying to find something that would tell him where he was and where everyone else was. His foot got caught on something underneath the...snow, his mind provided him, causing him to face plant in the soft, crystallized, cold water. Quickly standing up, Stiles’s shivers got more violent, as if he himself was an earthquake. Not long after, he started walking around again. He wasn’t sure where he was, what time it was, how long he had been walking around...nothing. He only knew that it was cold and he needed to find shelter and heat.

 

As time continued on, his steps got slower and slower, until he was moving the pace of molasses in January. The wind seemed to pick up all of a sudden, causing Stiles to hold his head downward to avoid the gust of snow coming directly at his face. However, he couldn’t pay attention to what was in front of him, leading him to walk straight into an object. Rubbing his head of the pain, Stiles had shock splattered across his face. In front of him was a creamy brown door, almost exactly like those in a hospital. Carefully, Stiles looked around the door. There couldn’t be just a door.

 

But there was.

 

Carefully, and tentatively, Stiles pushed on the door. In a blink of an eye, the environment around him changed, and his shivers seemed to stop. Hesitantly he took a step forward, only to quickly jump out of the way of a running child.

 

“Hey!” He called, but the boy didn’t stop, disappearing around a corner. In fact, no one even spared him a glance, not one person. “Hello?” He called out again, gaining the same reaction as the last time. Taking a step, Stiles saw the boy come back.

 

The boy was about six or seven, and his dark brown hair seemed like he was the one who cut it, all short and choppy. Stiles watched as the boy leaned over the counter, whispering something to the nurse. Something in Stiles went dark and a non-physical-like ache clinched in his chest. There was a rush of flurry as soon as the boy was done talking, doctors and nurses running around. “Where’re your parents?” Stiles walked up to the boy. He didn’t know why he expected a response, he hadn’t gotten on the last two, but he did.

 

“Mama…” The boy whispered, causing Stiles to nearly fall over in shock. That was his voice. Well, not his voice now but when he was younger, that was definitely, no doubt about it, his voice. “Mama!” The pseudo-Stiles said louder this time, and then started walking, Stiles trailing after him. Well, he didn’t exactly want to as he wasn’t sure if he wanted to see his mother again, which made Stiles feel guilty. He should want to see her, but seeing her would mean opening up emotional memories that he didn’t want to remember.

 

Hitting him like a freight time, it all came back to him…running into the hospital after school, his mom telling him that she was going to have to leave for awhile, requesting to get the doctors, being lost as the hospital staff ran left and right, then as the commotion died down, going to go back to visit his mom again. “Mama…” The younger him, that Stiles was awfully sure that the boy was him now, talked again.

 

“Okay, let’s go.” Stiles nodded. “Let’s go see mom.”

 

* * *

 

When his mom entered the hospital for her final and last time, it was because she had passed out at the store and after waking up, had completely forgotten where she was. She hadn’t hit her head or anything, so the Sheriff immediately took her to the hospital to check it out. Turns out her dementia had worsened dramatically. While there was no treatment for it, it was a progressive form of dementia. The doctors who took the MRI told her and the Sheriff that Claudia’s progressive supranuclear palsy had worsened, meaning that her muscles were becoming more stiff, which caused her to fall.

 

Stiles had come home from school that day to his dad slightly crying and not saying much, other than they needed to go to the hospital. The situation, or at least a little of it, was explained to him by his mother and he arrived. She was officially admitted that night, and from there, it went down a steep slope fast. Before entering the hospital, Claudia's progressive nonfluent aphasia was only at the point where some of her words were slow or they came out slowly, but a less than three weeks after the admittance, she woke up not being able to speak at all. That was also the day Stiles started to read to her instead of the other way around.

 

Upon entering the hospital was around the time Stiles's pre-diagnosed ADHD really kicked up. Teachers complained that he never paid attention despite how intelligent he was and he got into quite a few fights, namely with Jackson. Sometimes he would be suspended, much to his dad's dismay but Stiles could care less, the more time he could spend with his mom, the better.

 

The two short months Claudia was in the hospital, Stiles and his dad watched as all doctors could do was make her feel comfortable. They watched as she put on forced smiles, and they let her because they would do the same thing.

 

Stiles, despite his young age, started to research extensively, trying to find something, anything. And it was also between these research moments where Stiles would just look up random things, something for his mom to actually smile to.

 

Two months. That's all it took for the dementia to eat away at her frontal lobe. That's all it took to rip her away from the two people that loved her the most. That's all it took to leave two people completely miserable.

 

And now Stiles was back in that hospital, at that time, at that moment where everything just stopped.

 

* * *

Taking a deep breath, Stiles stopped right outside her room door, letting the younger version of himself to go in first. The second he caught a glimpse of his mother, Stiles started to cry.

 

She was just like how he remembered her on that day, lying on the bed with her dark, luscious hair being dulled by the hospitals dull, grey tones. Her skin was paler than usual and she was hooked up to a heart monitor and an IV drip only.

 

"Stiles, sweetie..." His mom rasped out, it being one of the first things she's verbally said in months. She reached out, offering her hand to the younger him. "Where's your dad?"

 

"He's coming mama."

 

"He's not going to make it." Stiles whispered, crossing the room to her empty side, placing his hands on hers. "He's not gonna make it mama." He whispered again, ignoring the tears crawling down his cheeks and that she couldn't hear him.

 

"I'm sorry little wolf. I-" A fit of coughs erupted, her entire body jerking at each one. "I-" She tried again to no prevail.

 

"Water?" Younger Stiles offered, and a thin smile was her response. Hurriedly the boy ran and got a glass from the hospital room's table. Bringing it back, the two Stiles watched as Claudia brought it up to her lips shakily and took a tiny sip.

 

"I'm sorry little wolf." She reiterated. "I have to go. Go. Go."

 

"Mama you've already said that word."

 

"I don't want to leave you little wolf."

 

"Then don't." Stiles tried to smile at the boys' misunderstanding of the situation, but failed.

 

"I'll still be here though. Don't you wor-worry. I love you."

 

"I love you too mama."

 

"Where's your dad?" Claudia asked again.

 

"He's coming."

 

"He's at a car accident." Stiles sadly said, gripping at her hands tighter. "But I'm here mama, I'm here and I'm not leaving. Not ever."

 

"Little wolf..." Stiles could see how much she was straining to speak. "A-ask your d-dad for..." Claudia started to trail off and her eyes moved up towards the ceiling, as if I captured by it. In response, Stiles moved one of his hands up to her hair, soothing it over as his other hand still gripped tightly on her hand.

 

"Ask dad what?" Stiles closed his eyes at the question. His father didn't know what she was going to say and they never found out. Opening his eyes again, Stiles stared down at his mother’s bright brown eyes. Some part of him honestly thought that she could see him, feel his touch, but he knew she couldn't. And that just made it seem so much worse.

 

"I love you little wolf... I-" It was surrealistic, watching her take her final breath as her eyes just stared at him. A second passed before Stiles put his forehead on hers and broke out in sobs, the noise from his younger self ignored.

 

* * *

 

**24 hours Beforehand**

 

* * *

 

 

Flipping over, Stiles sleepily opened his eyes. It was still night time but that’s not what woke him. A mop of curly hair under his chin was what startled him, and he realized that Isaac must’ve crawled into his bed. “Isaac…” He mumbled, slightly shoving the werewolf. When there was no response, he tried again. “Isaac…” His voice was a little louder this time but his shove was weaker. Isaac jumped, eyes gold and his arms waving wildly around as if to defend himself against an attacker. “Shhh…” Stiles said, “it’s just me.”

 

“Stiles?” Isaac’s panicked voice rasped out.

 

“It’s just me Isaac. You’re safe.” With his eyes adjusting to the dark, Stiles somewhat saw Isaac physically relax. “Isaac,” his voice was soft, “what’s going on?”

 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t…couldn’t sleep alone and I –”

 

“It’s okay. You don’t have to explain any further. I get nightmares too.” They were quiet for a few minutes, Stiles closing his eyes and relaxing back on the bed listening to Isaac breathing.

 

“I’ll let you get back to sleep.” Isaac started to move away but was stopped when Stiles put a hand up and waved for him to come closer.

 

“It’s fine. You just surprised me, that’s all.”

 

“Really?” The werewolf’s voice reminded him of a small puppy following his mother, but Stiles refused to voice this out loud. He had been hit enough earlier for all his dog jokes.

 

“Isaac, I’m tired. You’re tired. There’s a bed. It’s fine, really.” Stiles mumbled. Nothing else was said as Isaac laid down next to him, cuddling close and trying to seemingly bury himself in the sheets and Stiles’s side. In response, Stiles put his arm around Isaac, doing his best to make sure the werewolf knew he was there.

 

Silence fell and Stiles found it hard to get back to sleep, despite how exhausted he was. After about twenty minutes of just lying there hoping to get some shut-eye, Stiles realized it wasn’t going to happen and very carefully pulled out from where Isaac was laying. When he was sure the werewolf was still asleep, Stiles tiptoed out of the room. He, however, wasn’t expecting to walk into the couch. Biting his tongue and stream of profanities, he waddled over to the other side of the couch, throwing himself on it. After a few minutes, Stiles started twitching. Then he got the idea to call Derek.

 

Earlier when the pack was done eating pizza, they had talked about shifts. Derek, of course, being the non-high school student, was chosen to take a night shift because he’d be able to sleep in the morning and throughout the day.

 

Grabbing his phone off of the nearby phone charger, he dialed Derek's number. It rang once or twice before it stopped “Hey.”

 

“Why are you up Stiles? It’s nearly two.” Taking the phone away from his ear, Stiles glanced at the time.

 

“So it is.”

 

“Why aren’t you sleeping?”

 

“Isaac woke me. He was having a nightmare.” Stiles started to tap on his knees, his ADHD coming into play a little. “How’s it going?” On the other side of the line, Stiles could practically feel Derek shrug. “I can’t see you.” He teased.

 

“It’s going okay, nothing’s happened.”

 

“Tired?”

 

“Yeah.” The phone went silent, neither one talking. While Stiles could only hear Derek’s breaths, he was sure Derek could hear a lot more on his side. As if to test it, Stiles moved his feet onto the table, something he knows bothers Derek. “Feet off the table Stiles.” Derek lightly growled. Lifting his feet off, he laughed quietly.

 

“Make me.” Stiles taunted. The reply was a deep growl.

 

“Don’t tempt me.”

 

“Who said I was trying to tempt you?”

 

“Stiles…”

 

“Okay, okay. No more temptation…for now.” Standing up, Stiles moved into the kitchen. “Oh, since you’re out, grab some milk and chocolate.”

 

“Why don’t you text me a list? I’ll see if I can remember before I come back.”

 

“Alright Mr. Boss.” Derek suddenly went quiet. “Derek?” Fear started to build in Stiles.

 

“I’m still here. Don’t worry.”

 

“You ass!” Stiles snapped. “You don’t get to do that, especially right now." He visibly relaxed as he sat down on the couch again. "That wasn't cool Derek."

 

"I'm sorry. You just surprised me."

 

"With what?" He snorted. "Me saying 'Mr. Boss'?"  

 

"Yes, now let's talk about something else please." Stiles was about to say something but Derek continued. "We can talk about it later but right now we should just talk." Leaning back, Stiles closed his eyes.

 

"I'd love that." So they did. The two love-birds talked to about five in the morning. About the weirdest stuff Stiles could think of; octopi, Bermuda Triangle, Twilight (Stephenie Meyer), Derek's favorite sport, Stiles's fail moments, and more. Sighing, Stiles yawned again for the fifth time in the past two minutes.

 

"Stiles..." Derek said softly, "why don't you go to bed? I'm on my way and I'll call you in, okay?"

 

"But I wanna talk some more..." Stiles weakly replied.

 

"Go to bed. I'll be there soon."

 

"Okay," Stiles nodded lazily, "I love you."

 

"I love you too. Now sleep." Yawning again, Stiles hung up and gently set his phone on the table. Swinging his legs up on the couch, he fidgeted for a few seconds before finally deciding on facing the inside of the couch. Stiles curled up and within a few seconds sleep overtook him.

 

Waking up for a second time that day, Stiles noticed how he was no longer on the couch but in his bed. Stretching, and making a weird noise as he did it, he just relaxed for a few seconds, just staring up at the ceiling. Derek must’ve come home and moved him sometime after he got home. Smiling, Stiles hopped out of bed and walked into the kitchen, seeing Derek there making breakfast again.

 

“My own personal chef…” Stiles mused.

 

“Morning sleeping beauty.” Derek put a sizzling pan down and stepped away from the stove, wrapping his arms from Stiles, bringing him close. Their noses touched for a second as they kissed, short and sweet. Stiles brought his hands up to pull Derek closer, but got a small laugh in response. “I don’t want to burn the food.” Nonetheless though, Derek pecked Stiles on the lips again before moving back towards the food. “Sleep well?”

 

“Definitely.”


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Sexy times at the end of this chapter. Also Derek get's tortured. No big deal. (If you're sensitive to this, I'm trusting you to click off this page right before things become triggering.)

A week passed, slowly and too quiet...way too quiet. Not on a “no-witch” scale, but there wasn’t any rain or wind, or really anything that was significantly noisy.

 

On a good note though, Stiles was back in school, getting caught up with everything he’s missed and staying after every day to make up tests that took place. With him being in school, a few differences came also. One is that he was never left alone throughout the day. He always had one member of the wolf pack with him. Another was that he was still having issues with his jeep so Derek picked him up every morning and took him to school along with Isaac. Lydia used to be picked up with them, as she would steal any chance she could to ride in the Camaro, but with Jackson back, she rides in the Porsche now. And yet another difference is that of which Stiles’s father started to talk, quite hesitantly at first, about Claudia. The first time it, Stiles dropped the glass of milk he was holding and it shattered on the floor. He had ignored the mess and just stared at his dad like he lost his mind.

 

“We should start talking about her.” Was the Sheriff’s only response as he knelt down to pick up the broken shards. Numbly, Stiles knelt down and started helping out, and that was it for that night.

 

Now, however, his dad was at the office and he was at Derek’s house, watching the pack train. With Jackson now, the sparring was now uneven, leaving Derek the chance to watch his pack fight and give pointers out. Currently Isaac was gaining the upperhand with Scott, and Kira was using nunchucks to block all of Jackson’s blows. A few times Stiles would notice one of the werewolves eyes light up in frustration but it would die down shortly afterward as they regained control. He took note of the fact that Isaac seemed to be particularly angry, and made a reminder that he should ask Isaac about it later. An hour after the sparing started, it settled down as Lydia walked in with bags of food.

 

“Come on guys, clean off the blood and Stiles and I will set up the food.” She beckoned towards the kitchen with her head at Stiles. Smiling, Stiles put down the book, Pride & Prejudice, and followed her. Entering the kitchen, Stiles immediately went over to start taking the food out of the bags.

 

“Hey Lydia.” Stiles grinned and moved around her to put some plates on the living room table, leaving handling of the food to her.

 

“Have you been reading the entire time?”

 

“Yeah, I’m having an interesting time with Mr. Darcy.” Coming back into the kitchen, Stiles reached into a top cabinet to pull out cups, and then went into a drawer for silverware.

 

“I bet you are.” He could practically feel her smirk and went he turned to face her, Stiles saw her face turn instantly into a smile. “So...have you and Derek had sex yet?” Needless to say, if he was eating something at the moment, he’d be choking on it.

 

“Wait, what?”

 

“What?” Lydia gave off an innocent expression, like the question she just asked was not deeply personal and intimate.

 

“I guess?”

 

“A yes or no would suffice.” A voice came from behind, and turning around, he came face to face with Isaac.

 

“I’m not answering your crazy questions!” Stiles flung his hands up, waving them around his head.

 

“But you will.”

 

“Will what?” It was Derek who was next into the room, which caused the three of them to shake their heads.

 

“Nevermind.” Stiles said, but turning to Lydia he said, “still not answering”, while sticking his tongue out at her. Derek rolled his eyes and Isaac gave out a small laugh.

 

“Lydia was curious about your sex life.” Isaac provided Derek with the answer, and they all watched as Stiles red while Derek just raised an eyebrow at Lydia.

 

“Are you curious about all of your friends’ sex life?”

 

“Just Stiles’s.” Lydia cheerfully spoke. The conversation died down and switched to the recent werewolf TV series when the rest of the group walked into the kitchen. As soon as all the food was set, Derek sat down at the head of the table with Stiles to his right. LYdia sat next to Stiles, and Jackson sat next to her. Across from Stiles, and on Derek’s left, sat Isaac, then Kira and Scott.

 

“So what about this witch? We haven’t heard or had anything since Kira.” Isaac’s question was muffled as he talked with his mouth full.

 

“First off,” Lydia scowled, “don’t talk with your mouth full. Second off, maybe she felt that, after meeting us, she doesn’t have enough firepower to fight us?”

 

“That doesn’t make sense though.” Stiles shook his head and set down the fork in his hand. “Why would she attack two of us and then leave?”

 

“Three.”

 

“What?”

 

“Three,” Scott coughed a little, and it went silent as everyone was waiting for him to continue. “Two nights after Isaac’s nightmare and Kira’s attack, I had a nightmare myself.”

 

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Stiles and Derek asked in unison.

 

“Would you have listened to me?”

 

“Maybe.” Stiles would’ve flailed if not for there still being food on the table and the potential for hitting Lydia.

 

“Why didn’t I know?” Isaac asked, his eyebrows crossing as he was trying to recall.

 

“You were over at Derek’s place for the night.” Scott pointed out, and a look of recognition came across Isaac’s face. The table went silent once again except for the clacking of Jackson’s fork against his plate. When Jackson looked up a few seconds later, he saw that everyone was staring at him with annoyed expressions.

 

“What?” He defensively said, stopping the noise altogether. “At least I”m doing something. You guys are just sitting around pondering what’s going to happen next.”

 

“What’s going to happen next...” a voice came from behind them, causing all of them to whip their heads (surprisingly not giving any of them whiplash), “that’s the true question.” Standing against the doorway, was the witch. Her dark brown, unnaturally straight, hair moved little when she took a step away. “You’re all an interesting bunch but this man, “ she grabbed the shoulders of Derek too quickly for anyone to move and instantly had a knife to his throat. When Derek pulled out his claws, she clicked her tongue at him in a disapproving manner. “Manners Derek. I really don’t want to hurt your beautiful throat.” Stiles was filled with white hot rage when the witch bent down and licked Derek’s neck...licked.  Everyone in the room, werewolf or not, could visibly see the shudder of absolute disgust go through Derek. “I’ll be taking my leave now.”

 

Just like last time, she made her leave through a form of air travel. However, right before she fully disappeared with Derek, Isaac leapt at her, claws out. He dove head first into the wall and slid down it in pain. Immediately, Kira was on him, grabbing his arm.

 

“Isaac! Isaac, are you okay?” The rest of the group, except Stiles, swarmed around Isaac to help him get up. Stiles just stood there though, in utter and complete shock of what just happened.

 

“Stiles-” His name was muffled. “Stil-”

 

“I’m..I’m having a p-panic attack.” He looked up at Lydia, his eyes alarmed. Reaching out, he gripped the chair nearby to help steady himself. A hand was placed on his arm and he very fuzzily recalled being led to sit down.

 

“Stiles, I need you to breathe. Come on...with me now.” Lydia said, making elaborate breathing noises in order to help Stiles calm down his hyperventilating. Minutes passed with Lydia doing the exact same thing and Stiles just staring into Lydia’s eyes and trying to match her breathing. When the moment was over with, Stiles shook his head and looked down at the ground. Lydia, ignoring the looks from everyone, hugged Stiles tightly and rested her head on his shoulder. “It’s going to be alright. We’ll get Derek back.” Nodding slowly, Stiles took a deep breath and looked up, staring back at the others.

 

“I grabbed this.” Isaac raised his hand and revealed a tattered dark cloth stuck to his nails. “Maybe we could use this? You know, to sniff her out.”

 

“Good idea.” The werewolves gathered around and took a quick smell of it before wrinkling her nose. “That’s disgusting.” Jackson wrinkled his nose. “Smells like sulfur.”

 

“Do you have the sent down?” Stiles asked forcefully. All he got were nods, and standing up, he went to grab his plaid sweater from the doorway hook hanger. “Then let’s go.”

 

* * *

 

**5 Hours Later**

 

* * *

 

 

“Guys,” Stiles stared up at the pale yellow, completely normal looking (on the outside at least), house. “I think Isaac and I found it. We’re at 52 Beech Nut Drive. It’s near the old gas station.”

 

“On our way.” Lydia confirmed over the phone before hanging up.

 

“Kira and I will be right there.” Scott agreed before hanging up as well. It took a couple of minutes filled with Stiles just pacing and then tapping his leg and then doing whatever else to keep busy while he and Isaac waited. Sometimes he would sigh and then see Isaac shake his head out of he corner of his eye but Stiles paid no mind to it and continued his nervous habits. When the Porsche pulled in, with Scott’s mom’s car right behind, Stiles practically jumped the second they got out of the car.

 

“Okay, so I believe she’s still inside and Derek should be in there with her.”

 

“Then let’s go.” And that’s all that was said. The six of them didn’t need to discuss a plan because they knew how this was going to work. Lydia would stay behind with Stiles, who would have his baseball bat, and as soon as Kira, Jackson, Isaac, and Scott distracted the witch, Stiles and Lydia would slip by to search the rooms for Derek.

 

When they entered the house, the witch didn’t seem all that surprised. “I was wrong.” Was all she said as she lifted her hands up in submission. The werewolves and Kira surrounded her, giving Stiles and Lydia the chance to explore the house for Derek. Lydia went off into one room and Stiles continued down the hall, baseball bat raised. Looking back, he saw Lydia shaking her head and move on to a different room.

 

Opening a room a few doors down, he immediately brought his shirt up to his nose to block the stench and terrible aroma. Filled with disgust at the scene before him, Stiles refrained from throwing up. There were dead cats and other various animals strung up along with things he didn't even want to know. Quickly closing the door, Stiles shook his head. "What ever you do, don't go in there." Stiles pointed out to Lydia, who had just come out of yet another room. Looking at each other, Stiles put his bat on his shoulders for a second.

 

"There's only two more rooms left. You wanna take the basement?" Lydia asked, looking tentatively at the wooden door that no doubt had a stilled darkness behind it. Gulping as stealthily as he could, Stiles nodded, though he really, really didn't want to because the dark reminded him of the Nogitsune way too much. When the creature was in charge, it had selective view, meaning if it didn't want Stiles to know what was happening, Stiles was 'put' in a 'dark room', completely unaware of what his body was being controlled to do.

 

"You don't have to..." Lydia said softly, putting her hand on Stiles's shoulder and pulling him out of his reverie.

 

"I can do it; don't worry."

 

"Okay, call if you need anything." She warily said before slowly turning away and walking towards the last room. Taking a deep breath, Stiles opened the basement door with such a movement that it suddenly made him think about his crime shows and how he was practically doing what was shown on them. If not for searching for Derek, and the light switch, he probably would've laughed awkwardly at the situation.

 

Finally finding the switch, Stiles flicked it on. Carefully he descended the stairs. At the bottom, a pretty wide, long, empty hallway with only two doors was revealed. Taking a step forward, Stiles creeped up on the first door, only to find that it’s a mere storage closet. Stiles let out a breath, but soon after held it again. Derek needed to be in that last room. Before he got to the room thought, Stiles noticed Mountain Ash right outside the door. This was it. Derek was, for sure, in there. With a brush of his foot, the ash almost disappeared right way. Baseball bat ready to whack anything that would possible jump out, Stiles opened up the door wildly and took a step in.

 

Nothing did jump at him, and Stiles came to a complete stop and just took in the scene around him. The room itself was similar to a basement cellar, with only top windows letting in little light. Surrounding the walls there were shelves holding various spices by the looks of it. And in the middle, was a poorly lit lightbulb shining down on the werewolf himself.

 

Derek was in absolutely terrible condition, to say the least, and he almost broke down on sight of seeing him, but put down the baseball bat and quickly walked over to him. “Derek!” Putting his hands on Derek’s shoulders, completely not caring for the blood, and shook him. “Derek! Come on!” While Derek was still out though in the chair he was tied to, Stiles assessed the injuries. There was barely a part of his body not covered in blood and his shirt was completely ripped to the point where all Stiles had to do was gently take the rags off. To be honest, despite all the crime shows he’s watched and all the blood he’s seen, taking of clothing that was merely stuck on by nothing but blood was going to make him retch. “Guys! In here!” Stiles yelled at the top of his lungs.

 

A few seconds later, Scott skidded into the room with the rest of the pack on his heels. “Derek?” Scott asked, confused for a second. Ignoring what Scott said, Stiles just motioned them over.

 

“Guys I need some help here untying him. I don’t have claws like some of you.” As soon as he got the last word out, Scott and Isaac were next to him and taking off the binding off. “Where’s the witch?” Stiles suddenly asked, panicked that no one was watching her in the other room.

 

“Gone. She took off before we could get a full grip on her.”

 

“Hmmm….Stiles?” Derek rolled his head a little before giving a small shout from pain.

 

“Shh…” Stiles hushed, “I’m right here. You’re going to be okay.” Giving a small nod to the rest of the group, Stiles stood up. “Derek, we’re going to lift you up, okay? Got it?” Derek made a small movement to acknowledge it. “On three guys...one...two...three.” The three of them pulled Derek into a standing position and Stiles moved underneath as to put Derek’s weight on his shoulder. Isaac went underneath the other shoulder. Together the two of them carried Derek outside, the rest of the pack following them. “Let’s put him in the Camaro.”

 

“You d-drove,” Derek coughed a little, “my car?”

 

“Of course.” Stiles snorted. “Like you would let me drive it any other time. Besides, your car is faster and more comfortable.” Derek didn’t say anything in response and let the two put him in the passenger seat. Closing the door behind him, Stiles looked up at everyone. “I’ll get him home. Convene tomorrow?” Lydia grabbed onto Jackson’s arm and nodded in agreement before pulling the two of them away into the Porsche.

 

“I’ll grab a ride with Kira and Scott.” Isaac stated and then the rest of the three walked away. Taking another deep breath for what seemed like the billionth time today, Stiles walked as calmly as he could, over to the drivers door and quickly drove off.

 

* * *

 

Walking into the loft, Stiles carefully helped Derek over to the couch and got him to sit down without a complaint. Then walking back, he locked the door behind them before going into the bathroom. He silently walked back to where Derek was still sitting, gritting his teeth in pain, and knelt down. Stiles looked at Derek one time over, taking note of all the wounds that were on his body again. Although aware of the werewolf healing rate, he got right to work, pulling out bandages, cleaning out the injuries and then dressing them up. No words were exchanged throughout the process, and the only sound was of Derek groaning in pain every few seconds and Stiles’s light breaths.

 

Stiles knew Derek was going to be fine. Heck, the werewolf will probably be ready to go for round two in morning, but right now, Derek wasn’t fine, far from it. Every time he would hear Derek make a small noises, Stiles would internally cringe, wishing that in someway he could take the pain away. Staying quiet, he moved down to Derek’s leg which had bloody scratches all up and down it. Not letting the blood bother him or the fact that it looked so painful, Stiles pulled out the alcohol wipes and gently started to wipe away the cracked, almost blackish liquid.

 

Fifteen minutes or an hour passed, Stiles wasn’t sure, before he had put the last bandage onto Derek. Closing his eyes, he leaned forward and placed his head on Derek’s knee, letting out the breath he didn’t realize he was holding, and gripping Derek closely at the ankles. A few seconds passed and then there was a hand placed on his head, caressing his hair like Stiles’s mother had done years ago. It was at that moment where Stiles wondered if Derek’s own mother had ever done this hair-thing to Derek? But he didn’t want to ask, so he didn’t. Instead Stiles just relaxed more and more into Derek’s touch.

 

“Stiles?” He refused to look up as Derek said his name. “Stiles, I’m okay.”

 

“Like hell you are.”

 

“Stiles, really I’m fine. I’ll be good by morning.”

 

“That’s not the point.” Silence fell again as the hair play continued and the two lovers just sat together. Eventually Derek removed his hand from Stiles’s hair, causing a small whine to come from Stiles, but that was all that Stiles said about it. And then, Derek’s hand was on his face. Stiles’s golden brown eyes bore into Derek’s natural blue ones, searching for something, anything that would tell him what Derek was thinking at the moment. Derek brushed his hand downward onto Stiles neck and pulled Stiles’s head tentatively forward. Their lips met for a brief second, the two of them just barely touching. A few times of kissing like that and Stiles dared to deepen the kiss, bringing some passion into it. Derek immediately went with it and equally gave off intensity. Despite how slow the kissing started off, it was increasing in speed and zeal.

 

At some point Stiles began sitting on Derek’s lap, he wasn’t sure when though, and he considered for a second to stop everything till Derek was healed but as his hands traveled up and down Derek’s arms and torso, Stiles discovered that the cuts he didn’t cover were already healed. So he continued but with the caution of some of the larger gashes. It was Stiles who broke away first, and began kissing Derek’s neck, noting the little noises that came from the werewolf. “Bed…” Derek said quietly, as if not to break the emotions rising in the air. In a manner of seconds of staying off of each other, they were kissing against a wall. “I think I said bed, not wall…” Derek muttered. In response, Stiles took Derek’s hand and they managed to get into Derek’s room, closing the door behind them and locking it.

 

Climbing onto the bed, Stiles pushed Derek down and continued to kiss along Derek’s neck before moving down on to Derek's chest, making small nips here and there. Derek’s hand came up and lightly gripped Stiles’s shoulder, silently begging him to continue. “Can I...is it alright if I…?” Stiles murmured as he brought himself up to kiss Derek on the lips again.

 

“Oh god yes…” Moaning, Derek made the first move of grinding upwards towards Stiles’s already hard cock, causing his own to harden even more. They were like that for a few minutes, like high school teenagers having dry sex for the first time.

 

“Are you sur-?”

 

“Stiles, I’m definitely sure.” Derek kissed Stiles hard to get the point across. Nodding, Stiles pulled away and took off his pants in no particular sexy matter. Not taking time to be self conscious, he gripped the top of Derek’s jeans and gently pulled at them. Stiles tightened his grip when Derek rolled his hips up as to help create less bed-to-clothing friction. If Derek could do that with his hips…Stiles unconsciously licked his lips.

 

He looked around and noticed a small bottle of lube on the dresser. After throwing Derek’s pants on the floor, Stiles grabbed the lube and crossed the room back to Derek. While he figures Derek has probably done this before and doesn’t need to be prepared, Stiles would rather be safe than sorry. So looking up at Derek, Stiles squirted some of the lubricant on his fingers and touched daintily around Derek’s hole. Stiles became concentrated on what he was doing however as this was his first time being a top. The last two times Derek and him had done this, he had been bottom, which he’s totally okay with. But this time was more about Derek and how the events of tonight just really made Stiles want to show Derek how much he loves him.

 

Sticking a finger inside of Derek, Stiles moved it around and realized he could easily put another finger in, and so he did. With his long, nimble fingers, Stiles surprisingly could reach Derek’s prostate (just barely) and lightly touched it, causing a gasp of pleasure from the werewolf. “Oh my god Stiles...do that again. Please…” Derek begged (though he would probably deny it afterwards), and so Stiles did, and elicited another gasp. He dared four fingers after a few minutes, and just moved them around, putting different points under pressure. Every time Derek made a noise of bliss, Stiles took note of it and spent a few moments on the spot.

 

“Stiles…” Derek breathlessly said. When Stiles looked up, he noticed Derek’s eyes were closed.

 

“Tell me what you want Baby…”

 

“Insi-I need you inside me…” Stiles grinned at Derek’s words, and crawled back on top of Derek to give him a kiss before aligning himself between Derek’s legs.

 

With a deep breath, Stiles pressed on, causing moans to come from both of them. Waiting for a few seconds so both could adjust, Stiles made a small movement back and thrusted forward. He did it again and this time it was him making the noise. “God...Derek…” Rocking his hips into a rhythm, Derek wasn’t too far behind on matching. Because they were facing one another, Stiles found Derek’s hands traveling and down his body, sending little shivers up and down his spine.

 

Stiles couldn’t even fathom to know how to explain how he felt. He felt good and whole and  absolutely wonderful. If this is what Derek felt like every time he topped then maybe they should work out a plan for every time or every other time. The plans for the future were put on hold when Derek did some weird motion with hips. Seeming to sense that Stiles enjoyed that, Derek did it again...and again.

 

“Derek...I’m going to..cum.” Shakily, Stiles fell down into a position where his arms were next to Derek’s and his face was right next to Derek’s neck.

 

“Me too.” Derek agreed, his eyes open for just a split second before being closed again. Stiles began moving just slightly faster and started sucking on Derek’s neck.

 

“I can’t believe I can’t give you any hickies to show that you belong to me.” Stiles lightly complained as he worked his way down onto Derek’s collar bone area, still kissing the skin. Leaning onto one of his arms, he brought his other hand to Derek’s definitely hard member and took a grip on it. Gradually, Stiles started moving up and down, putting a little twist with his hand from time to time.

 

A few minutes of moans and the two of them going breathless, had them both coming in the end, not at the same time though. It was Derek who came first and then Stiles, though one would expect the teenager too.

 

Laying there, they both caught their breaths back and carefully Stiles pulled out. Without any words being said, he got up and went into the nearby bathroom, bringing out a warm washcloth. And after being cleaned up, the both of them, Stiles burrowed his way next to Derek with Derek’s arm supporting his head.

 

“I love you.” Stiles said, bringing his hand up and carelessly moving it along Derek’s chest.

 

“I love you too.” Derek stated warmly, bringing his own hand up and putting it on top of Stiles. The werewolf just stared at Stiles in the way old couples who were high school sweethearts looked at each other still. In all honesty, it was sickenly adorable.

 

The two of them just laid there then, with the top sheet barely covering the two cuddle birds. After a few minutes, Derek tightened his hold on Stiles’s hand for a seconds as to reassure himself that Stiles was real or maybe it was to reassure himself that this wasn’t something the witch came up with to torture him. Stiles had no clue what had happened and he wasn’t sure why Derek was suddenly strangling his hand, but he snuggled closer.

 

“I’m not leaving.” He whispered, breaking the silence.

 


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to all reading this and commenting :)

The Nogitsune is back, at least that’s the first thought that went through Stiles’s head. Why else would he have such a vivid, terrible dream about his mother dying again? But then logic kicked in and Stiles brushed the idea away. The dark spirit was gone, they destroyed it. In spite of the calming reassure that it wasn’t the nogitsune that made him relieve his mothers death, a cold shudder went through him. He hadn’t dreamed about his mother in years, and especially with the dream being so realistic, it felt so real as if he was back to that moment. Closing his eyes, Stiles leaned his head forward right above his knees for a second, trying to compartmentalize the grief brought up from the dream. A tear escaped from behind his eyelashes and dropped on the cement floor underneath him. Looking up, Stiles blinked his eyes a numerous amount of times to lessen the water welling in his eyes and prevent other tears from falling.

 

Taking a deep breath, he scanned the room he woke up in. It was a cellar, no doubt about it with it’s stone walls, and there were a few small windows, letting in some daylight. The rest of the room’s lighting came from the hanging bulb above him. Up against the wall, there were self-canned vegetables on shelves that looked like they hadn’t been touched in years, and a white freezer directly in front of him.

 

The pole that he was attached to was frigid, and he seldom leaned against it, despite his shoulders aching and begging him to relax. Craning his neck, Stiles shifted and pulled at whatever was tied onto his hands. Stiles figured it was a zip-tie due to the way it dug into his wrists whenever he moved and how he couldn’t loosen it at all, but until he could get out, he wouldn’t know for sure.

 

Still struggling though, Stiles searched for a way to escape, but the way he was tied up, meant that he couldn’t see the door at all, plus the windows were too small for him to pull himself through. In short, he had no plan of escape. He gulped down the starting panic, clearing his mind of it. Panic wouldn’t be helpful in this circumstance. It would probably do the exact opposite.

 

“I’m glad you’re awake.” The voice startled him, making his heart rate skyrocket for a second.

 

“Where am I?” Stiles angrily demanded to whoever was speaking.

 

“You’re in a basement. I thought that much was obvious.” When the woman who was speaking game into view, Stiles’s face darkened in frustration.

 

“Walmra.” He curtly said. “Want to tell me how I fell asleep next to the most beautiful, gorgeous man alive only to wake up in some slightly damp, and gross place?”

 

“Not particularly.”

 

“Mind then, letting me go if there’s no reason for use to hold me?”

 

“I never said there wasn’t a reason.” She snapped. “You’re here to help lure the others.”

 

“They won’t come.” Stiles said quickly.

 

“Yes they will, because they care about you. Poor, defenseless human Stiles. What do you bring to the pack table, I wonder…” Walmra trailed off, her fingers sliding against his chin softly.

 

“Well in this case, preferably your head, but I can make due with a finger.” He snapped at her hand, inches away from actually biting her. She tsked at him.

 

“I’m trying to be nice here.”

 

“You’re definition of nice is crap. Look up the word in the dictionary to help you.”

 

The witch screamed, her personality taking a quick and surprisingly savage turn, as she slapped Stiles across his face, her nails drawing little rivulets of blood from his cheek. Stiles gasped at the impact, yet he refused to make any other noise. He survived a beating worse than this from Gerard. Seeing that she didn’t get the reaction she wanted, Walmra continued to hit Stiles over and over again but more on his torso than his face.

 

After a while, she just stopped, panting and out of breath, and left the room. Relieved for getting a break, no matter how short it might turn out to be, Stiles’s body leaned into the pole. Despite how the position and how leaning against a metal pole isn’t the most comfortable thing, his body relished in the support.

 

He let out a soft moan of pain when he twisted his body the wrong way. He must have a broken rib or two. As he was about to let out another sound, the door clicked open and he stilled. When the witch came into view, she had a rag and a small bucket of water. With a gentleness she hadn’t had a few minutes ago, Stiles watched as she dipped the cloth into the water. Straining the cloth, she lifted it up to his face, ignoring his flinch. The water was warm and although it stung, it actually felt good. Although still extremely cautious, Stiles relaxed to save his strength.

 

“Why are you doing this?” There was a different look in the witch's eyes when she looked up, but she didn’t answer. Instead, she dipped the washcloth in the tepid water again. This motion became repetitive over the next half hour, with Stiles staring at her in confusion and her just rinsing out his wounds.

 

“May I have some water?” He croaked out finally. She looked around before putting a finger to her lips. Quietly getting up, she went behind him for a second. A twist of a cap coming off sounded nearby and a water bottle was thrusted into his face. She motioned for him to take it, but she shook his head. “My hands are tied.”

 

A thoughtful look crossed hers. She knelt down and put the tip of the water bottle to his lips. Following her lead, he took a gulp of it as she poured it into his mouth. When he shook his head, Stiles watched as she put the cap back on it.

 

“I’m Sally.” She finally said, speaking softly.

 

“I thought your name was Walmra.” Stiles was beyond confused right now.

 

“No, that’s the other one. I’m Sally.” She repeated again. Sally then sat down, crossing her legs together and just staring at him.

 

“The other one-?” Clearly Stiles had gotten lost somewhere.

 

“The one that did this to you,” Sally motioned at Stiles, “that’s Walmra. She has such a terrible temper sometimes and she’s not very happy with how you’re reacting. She wanted you to be panicking but you’re not showing anything. It’s quite upsetting to her.” A frown appeared on her face.

 

“She did this to elicit a response from me?” His question went ignored though as Sally contin

 

“However, she’s quite pleased with how your pack is; scrambling around trying to find you. It’s quite amusing to her.” And then it hit Stiles, even though the conclusion perplexed him. This witch must have a form of dissociative identity disorder, though he didn’t even know supernatural creatures could even get psychological disorders. He made a mental note to search it up later and if worse comes to worse, ask Deaton.

 

“Sally, is Walmra here right now?”

 

“No, she’s in the other room.” Shaking her head, Sally stood up again and walked around the cellar.

 

“So we can talk without her listening in?”

 

“She won’t like that we’re talking.”

 

“But how could she know if she can’t hear us?” Stiles insisted, and when Sally’s face lite up, he knew he got through to her. She walked over and sat down again, closer this time.

 

“I’m not usually allowed to talk.” Whispering excitingly, Sally reminded him of a little child who was playing hide and seek.

 

“Then we’ll have to be extra quiet.” Stiles went along with her, lowering his voice. “Sally, what can you tell me about where we are?”

 

“Oh!” Sally clapped her hands eagerly. “We’re in the basement of Mrs. Deere’s house. She’s such a kind lady, letting Walmra and I stay here. She even cooks for us. It’s a shame she’s blind though.” When an upset look came on Sally’s face, Stiles interrupted.

 

“Mrs. Deere makes the best cookies in town, doesn’t she?” Stiles encouraged her. The old woman was well known in the community for her ability to make food despite not being able to see. Plus it helped that the police department came over and helped proof her house to make it easier for her to get around and know where things are. Half of the time that his dad was there, he would be in the other room reading to Mrs. Deere. But all that stopped when the woman’s house was finally finished being rearranged and his mother passed away.

 

“She does.”

 

“Sally, how old are you?” Something about how Sally acted, made him question if Sally really understood what was going on.

 

“Why I’m thirteen!” Then she shook her head and frowned, “wait that’s not right. I’m thirty-two.” Sally suddenly looked older than she did a few minutes ago. “I’m thirty-two.”

 

“Could you untie my hands, Sally? They’re starting to hurt.” Stiles switched the conversation, and tried to sound weak.

 

“Walmra wouldn’t like that.” Immediately, Sally jumped up. “No, no, no, not at all.”

 

“But Walmra wouldn’t have to know?” He begged. “You could untie them and then when she’s on her way back, quickly tie me back up. Yes?”

 

“But…”

 

“Like a game.” Stiles promised. At the word ‘game’, Sally moved behind him. Feeling whatever was tightened on his wrists go slack, he quickly brought his hands in front of him and cradled them to his chest before inspecting them. There was a thin red mark on both of them, and Stiles flinched when he touched at one. No doubt it’d bruise.

 

Seeing as his hands were free now, he reached out for the water bottle and took another drink of it. “So,” Stiles hummed, “how did you and Walmra meet?”

 

“Oh it was awhile back. She saved me from a pack of wolves.”

 

“Wolves?” The mention made Stiles perk up.

 

“Yeah, savage beasts.” Disgust appeared on Sally’s face but it quickly disappeared as she brought her hands to her forehead.

 

“Sally?”

 

“I’m okay. Just a headache. I get them from time to time.” She waved him off and stood up straighter. Nodding, Stiles walked around the cellar, never going close to the door just in case, but instead opted to view the things that surrounded him. There were cans of food, like he saw before. Drawing nearer though, his lip lifted with repulsion. How could anyone eat mushed up strawberries?

 

“Have you ever had any of this stuff?” He lifted up a small can of what repulsed him just a few seconds earlier and held it out for her to see. Glad to see her same reaction, he grinned. “I’ll take that as a no. I don’t blame you,” Stiles said as he put it back, “you couldn’t even force feed me that stuff.” Shaking his head, he moved on. A slight glare caught his eye, and double checking to make sure he wasn’t being watched, he hurriedly moved a few cans aside. Laying on the shelf, was a gift...a knife, or to be more specific, an athame knife. It looked old and like it hadn’t been used in years.

 

Stiles quickly jumped back though when there was a loud groan of pain from Sally. “Sally? Are you sure you’re okay?” Surreptitiously, he grabbed the athame and stuck in in his back pocket, covering it up with the back of his shirt.

 

“Yeah,” He could hear her grit her teeth. “I’m fine.”

 

“We could go on a walk. Maybe that’ll help your headache with the fresh air?” Stiles said, a little panicked by the woman who was rubbing her temples violently in front of him. He backed up to where his lower back was pressing into the freezer. In a mix of worry and shock, he watched as her entire body shuddered and then was calm.

 

“God, she’s so annoying. Such a goody two-shoe with being so helpful.” Her hands dropped and her eyes lifted in a glaring manner as she spit out the words. “You’re annoying. Do you ever not have questions? Which by the way, the answer is no, we’re not going outside.”

 

“Walmra.” Stiles stated, her name dry on his tongue. Of course she would come back just as she was getting to Sally.

 

“The one and only…” She smiled and gave a small bow. “And you must be Stiles, the human mess of the Hale pack.”

 

“McCall.”

 

“What?”

 

“You said Hale, but you’re wrong.” Stiles corrected her. “It’s the McCall pack now.” In response, she shrugged.

 

“In the end, it doesn’t really matter. They’ll come either way.”

 

“You’re underestimating them.” There was a warning tone in Stiles’s voice as he took a step away from the freezer. Suddenly she was in his face, her breath filling in for the loss of his. He hadn’t even seen her move and the difference in the distance made him light-headed, or was it queasy...or both. With inhuman speed, she brought her hand up to his throat, forcing him to lean backwards to try and ease the pressure of her nails. Walmra clicked her tongue at him.

 

"You've got spark. But right now, I need you to scream." She increased the pressure against his jugular.

 

"Can't-" he choked. "Scream if-you're killing me." Glaring, she drew her hand back quickly.

 

"Scream."

 

"One second, jeez..." Rolling his eyes, he rubbed at his neck and muttered something about an impatient witch under his breath, but there was no way to tell for sure if he said witch or if he swore. A split second later he darted towards the door, forcefully pushing her out of the way. Just as his hand touched the maple trim, he felt his shoulder being wretched back in such a painful, violent matter that he couldn't help the scream that left his lips.

 

"There we go." Walmra cheerfully said. "Wasn't so hard was it?" Smiling manically, she used her magic to throw him against the wooden shelf of canned goods before releasing her hold. Stiles fell to the ground and stayed there, catching his breath and trying not to move from the pain. Much not to his luck, he heard the shelving behind him creak. He winced as he realized that he must’ve hit the shelf hard enough to unbalance it. Covering his head, he waited for the thing to fall. Soon after, glass shattered around him and his shirt became soaking wet in disgusting smelling liquid and the wooden shelf fell on his back, causing him to exclaim a short list of profanities. Some of the glass that had bounced off the floor landed in his hair and others did minor damage to his arms. When all was still he still dared not move. The less amount of torment he went through right now, the better. Without regard to the pain though, Stiles moved his head to where he could keep an eye on Walmra.

 

“I’m her counterpart. Every witch has one. But sometimes, the counterpart is stronger and takes over.” Walmra informed him, looking bored with everything. “Sally can’t use her powers like I can, and since I’m so much stronger, I’m in control most of the time. Occasionally I let her roam because it's amusing to see her get so confused. Unlike me, she never knows what I'm doing unless I want her to."

 

"You talk too much. Just shut up and kill me already."

 

"I'm not going to kill you Stiles," she let out a terrible, high pitched laugh. "At least not yet. Besides, I thought you wanted to know this stuff.”

 

“Oh I do,” A wacky smirk that the Mad Hatter would be proud of passed of Stiles’s face. Taken aback by the mood change, Walmra’s glower came back.

 

“What?” She asked right before a loud snarl came from behind her and she was ripped from the room.

 

“Stiles!” In a jiffy, Lydia was at his side, letting the werewolves and Kira take care of the witch. Stiles let his forehead touch the wet ground, relief flooding his systems. He felt as the shelving was lifted off of him and he heard the occasional crack of glass from Lydia stepping on it. And then her hands were on his back. “Stiles, oh my god, what happened?” Her voice was a level down from frantic.

 

“She must not have realized you guys were so close. I don’t think she was expecting you for another hour or so.” Stiles elected to say, still keeping his head down.

 

“Not possible. The second Derek heard you, he told everyone to step on the gas pedal and meet him at the nearby gas station in five minutes. There wasn’t much room for argument.” At the mention of Derek, Stiles winced.

 

“How is he?”

 

“Besides waking up with you right next to him, totally not fine. I swear that the world was legitly ending, he was so terror-stricken and was freaking out that it was hard to get him calm enough to even explain what had happened.” Lydia’s rolled eyes could literally be heard as she spoke, but her voice softened. “But he had good reason to be. We were so scared Stiles.”

 

“I’m so glad you guys found me.” Tears came to Stiles’s eyes, from happiness and pain, as he lifted his body slowly into a sitting position. Within seconds of situating himself, Lydia flung her arms around his neck, pressing his face into his collarbone. They stayed like that for a few minutes, Stiles relishing in the comfort and Lydia totally not crying on his already wet shirt. A crash was heard from upstairs and after pulling away, the two shared a look. In an attentive, yet swift, Stiles stood up, using Lydia as a report. “Come on, let’s go help them.” Limping, the two gradually made their way up the stairs to where Walmra was kneeling on her knees in what appeared to be dead center between the four werewolves and one kitsune. A dark smile appeared on her face as she saw Stiles and Lydia come into the room. And then she leaned her head back and spread her arms out. Her eyes opened wide and she started to chant some sort of incantation in Latin. Fury raced through Stiles’s veins and he dug in his back pocket.

 

“Revenge is a bitch.” Stiles snarled as he brought up the athame he found, leaned off of Lydia, walked calmly up to her, and slit her throat. His eyes were cold and emotionless while hers were full of shock. Whatever she tried to say afterward turned into a bunch of gurgles before she hit the ground, only to disappear in a trace of smoke seconds later. Staring at where she use to be, Stiles’s chest heaved for air and he physically felt his legs being drained of all feeling. As he closed his eyes, all he heard were the faint shouts of his name accompanied by heavy footsteps.

 

 


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the end... :)

Coming to, Stiles almost didn’t want to open his eyes he was so comfortable. He could easily tell that instead of being on a basement floor he was in a bed, a really, really cozy. Letting a small, barely detectable sigh, Stiles let his eyes flutter open. In an instant he recognized the ceiling of Derek’s room. Why wasn’t he in the hospital? He couldn’t stop the relaxed expression on his face from fleeting to a confused one.

 

Glancing around, Stiles groaned. Moving his head was not a good idea. Apparently though he made enough noise for someone to come crashing in a few seconds later. Derek looked at him in, astonishment? His mouth was wide open and if his eyes increased in size, they would be similar to a small dinner plate. “S-Stiles?” Derek managed to get out, stuttering.

 

“Heya Derek!” Stiles said cheerfully. “What’s up?”

 

“You infuriating idiot…” And then Derek was across the room, lightly touching Stiles’s arm before bending over and giving Stiles an awkward hug.

 

“What’ve I missed?” Whispering into Derek’s ear, Stiles tried bringing his arms up to wrap around his boyfriend but it hurt to move them.

 

“Well besides being knocked out for three days, not much. The witch is gone, her body disposed of. I finally got everyone out of the loft since they’ve refused to move for the last two days.” Pulling back, Derek dragged over a nearby chair. He wrapped his fingers in Stiles, and clung on tightly. “I’ll tell you more later, I promise, but what do you remember?”

 

“I remember sleeping with you.” Stiles blushed a light cherry red. “Then I remember having a dream about my mom and then waking up in the basement. I re-remember the witch.” His body tensed as it recalled everything it had endured. “Derek, why am I here? Why aren’t I in the hospital? Did anyone get hurt battling the witch? Why can’t I feel the immense amount of pain I should be in?”

 

“There’s the Stiles I know.” Derek mused. “You’re here because your dad told me to bring you here-“

 

“Ah crap! My dad. Wha-“Stiles interrupted by a finger to his lips quickly paused him at the beginning of his sentence.

 

“Let me answer your previous questions.” Derek waited until Stiles nodded till he took his finger away. “Your dad said to bring you here because if you wake up in the hospital and freak out, it might be hard to explain. But if you weren’t awake by tonight, we made a deal that we would take you in. He’s been coming by whenever he can, otherwise I’ve been sending him text messages.”

 

“So he’s fine?”

 

“Besides being worried, yes, he’s fine. And everyone else is fine too. The witch landed a spell on Kira but Deaton quickly fixed it. Scott and Jackson got thrown backwards into some ceramic figurines, and Isaac went unconscious for a moment. And Lydia, of course, was getting you.”

 

“What about you?”

 

“What about me?”

 

“How are you?” Stiles asked, as if it was the most obvious question. The room was silent for a few minutes with Derek having a contemplating look on his face.

 

“I’m better than I was.”

 

“Derek-“He started to groan but Derek didn’t have it.

 

“I’m good Stiles. When I woke up to your side of the bed cold, I was terrified. I didn’t even notice you had gone, and I couldn’t hear you anywhere in the loft. I panicked. In the end, we found you. That’s all that matters. So I’m good Stiles, I’m fine.” Stiles made a small noise of discontentment at Derek’s small speech, however didn’t elaborate further. Derek loosened his grip on Stiles’s fingers just a little. “And you can’t feel any pain because I’ve been taking it.” At least he looked a little guilty when he said it. Snapping his hand away, Stiles growled.

 

“You know I don’t like it when you do that. You should’ve have to deal with my pain.”

 

“I couldn’t just leave it!” Derek snapped, his temper flaring up for a second. “You were in so much pain you practically vibrated with it. I didn’t know what else to do, and you weren’t awake at the time. Scott, Isaac, and Jackson took some too. Kira said she would, but she didn’t know how, or if she even could.” Mutely, Stiles just stared for a minute.

 

“I’m sorry.” Was all he said when he finally spoke.

 

“Its fine, I just…” Sighing, Derek resigned by resting his head on the bed. The two of them were still, reminiscing in the last few days as well as simply enjoying the other’s company. Finally, Stiles made a move by pulling his hand away from Derek’s and placing it in Derek’s hair, lightly trailing his fingers through it’s short, yet surprisingly, soft texture.

 

“Thank you.” He quietly said.

 

“You never have to say that,” Derek rasped out. “Not to me at least. Never to me.” It was then that Stiles realized that Derek had been silently crying when he placed his head down.

 

“Derek…” Stiles choked out, his own eyes filling up with tears, because let’s face it, he was a sympathy crier, especially when it came to people he was close too. Abruptly Derek stood up, his face angled away from Stiles. Drawing his hand back, he sniffed.

 

“I need to go let the others know you’re awake.”

 

“Derek,” Pleading, Stiles attempted to stand up, only to cry in pain and pushed back down by Derek.

 

“You idiot.” Derek let out a faint held-in breath next to Stiles’s ear. “Don’t move.” Ignoring what was just said, Stiles brought his hands up to Derek’s face and gently moved Derek’s head to where they were facing each other. Derek’s eyes though were closed.

 

“Open your eyes.” Stiles requested gingerly. A paused few moments passed before Derek did, and as he did so, a few salty tears that his eyelashes were holding onto fell. “Derek, I’m here. See? I’m okay, or at least I will be.” Then everything that Stiles was previously unaware of, came to; the way Derek was leaning over him, the way his hand was placed on the pillow right next to Stiles’s right ear, how he could feel the slight dampness of Derek’s breath on his cheek. So he did the only thing anyone else would’ve done. Stiles brought Derek’s face down and kissed him.

 

Their teeth clashed for a second before they easily fixed it. The kiss was tender, heartfelt, and full of reassurance. As they broke away, Stiles kept his eyes close for a split-second longer to relish in the fact that he was still alive. The second he opened them, Stiles saw Derek moving in for a second kiss, to which he eagerly complied to. Their lips moved in sync together and at some point, Derek’s tongue had slipped into Stiles’s mouth. He physically felt his lips start to puff up from being kissed so vigorously.

 

When Derek and Stiles finally broke away from each other, they had to take a minute or two to catch their breaths. “What was that one for?” Stiles asked between the small pants.

 

“To make sure this wasn’t a dream and that you’d still be missing when I woke up.” Derek simply replied before moving away.

 

“Hey!” He called after him, which in turn caused Derek to pause at the doorway. “Just tell me dad. They others can wait until after school.” Derek didn’t say anything in response, but he didn’t need to. Stiles knew that it would be done.

 

* * *

 

“Derek, thank you.” Stiles’s dad brought Derek in for a hug before clapping the man on his shoulder. “Where is he?”

 

“In the bedroom.” Derek pointed with his thumb behind him. “I’ll leave you guys alone. Besides, I definitely need to restock my food supplies.” He winced. “I forgot how much teenagers, let alone werewolf teenagers, eat.”

 

“Thank you again.” John Stilinski earnestly said before sidestepping his son’s boyfriend, and walking briskly to where Stiles was. Smiling, Derek grabbed he keys off of the hook near the door and opened the loft door. As he was stepping out, he heard just the beginning part of the conversation.

 

“Oh hey Dad!” Stiles brightly said.

 

“Don’t give me that ‘hi dad’ crap and don’t you ever, and I mean ever, do that again.”

 

“Dad, it’s not my fault a witch kidnapped me.” Stiles sounded exasperated.

 

“Well I wouldn’t go so far to put it past you…” Chuckling, Derek quickly left the loft as to give the two Stilinski men privacy.

 

* * *

 

“So son,” John sat down where Derek was sitting moments before. “How are you?”

 

“I’ve been better.” Stiles sighed. “Breaking my arm was easier, and less painful, than this.”

 

“I bet, but otherwise you’re okay?”

 

“Yeah dad, I’m good. Derek’s been taking care of me.”

 

“Good…that’s good.” Stiles’s dad leaned back in his chair and folded his hands together.

“Do the others know you’re awake?” Shaking his head, Stiles relaxed more into the bed.

 

“Not yet. I told Derek to wait until they were after school. They’d skip out if they knew I came to.”

 

“Can you blame them?” His dad raised an eyebrow at him.

 

“No.” Stiles admitted. “I’d probably do the same thing.” He shifted slightly where he was laying and snuggled into the blankets farther. “I saw her.” In a small voice, he decided to tell his dad about the induced dream. Instantaneously his father was on the edge of the chair listening. “I know we don’t talk ab-about her, but I thought you should know that I saw her. The witch somehow made me dream about th-that- ni-night.” Stiles’s voice was thick but he continued. “It was so real dad; her voice, her hair, the hospital, everything.”

 

“Oh Stiles…”

 

“And I couldn’t d-do anything. I just had to wa-watch on as she…” He trailed off, knowing they both knew what happened. His dad didn’t say anything, electing to hug his son.

“It’s alright, I’m here.” John made a shushing, consoling sound. “She would be so proud of you Stiles, unbelievably proud.” Whether it was a handful of minutes or an hour, the two Stilinski men held onto each other for comfort until Stiles pulled away. Letting out a deep breath, Stiles closed his eyes to refocus.

 

“That vacation sounds good right about now.”

 

* * *

 

A few hours later after Derek had come back from picking up Isaac, and everyone else, there was a small party (no alcohol, even wolfsbane-laced) in victory of Stiles waking up.

 

“Dude you had us worried man.” Scott said as he threw an arm around Stiles’s shoulders. Before the pack had all come back, Stiles’s dad helped him move to the couch so the bedroom wouldn’t be as crowded. Turns out, it was a pretty good idea as everyone, including Jackson and surprisingly Danny, came.

 

“Scott was worried.” Lydia spoke up. “I knew you were going to be alright though.” Earlier when Stiles was getting hugs, she had held up a pile of homework for him while claiming just because he was attacked by a witch, it was no excuse to fall behind in school.

 

Isaac elected not to say anything, but he didn't need to as he folded himself at Stiles's side, careful as to not lean too heavily onto him. Jackson sat next to Lydia and Danny next to him. Danny offered no words as to why he had suddenly come out of nowhere. Nonetheless, Stiles was just happy to have the acquaintance there.

 

His dad stayed nearby on a pulled up chair with Derek behind him leaning against the wall. “So how are you feeling?” Scott asked.

 

“I’m good.” There were several skeptical looks thrown his way. “No, really I am. Besides the occasional pain from moving around, I’m good. I’m just happy not to be in that basement anymore.” At the mention of the basement, Isaac moved closer. Stiles turned his head to smile at him, figuring that being close helps to assuage Isaac of whatever he needs to be reassured of. When it became muted, Stiles thought about an idea.

 

“Let’s watch Star Wars!” Scott groaned and Lydia rolled her eyes. In the end though, everyone decided a movie would be best, though it wouldn’t be Star Wars. “You guys betray me!” Stiles lightly shouted.

 

“There’s nothing to betray.” Jackson muttered, causing a small, fake gasp to come from Stiles and a sharp elbow to the gut from Lydia, connected with a sharp hiss to behave.

 

“Stiles, as much as we love you, we aren’t going to watch Star Wars.”

 

“But I’m the injured one.” Stiles argued back. Needless to say, the argument fell through and the movie decided on was ‘The Avengers’. Altogether, the pack (minus Stiles’s dad) tried their best to all fit around Stiles; Isaac to Stiles’s immediate right, Scott to his left, Derek between his legs resting his head on Stiles’s knee, Lydia and Jackson next to Scott, and Danny on the floor near Isaac.

 

Halfway through the movie, Stiles glanced around and realized that almost everyone had fallen asleep. The only three that were still awake were his dad, Danny, and Lydia. Fishing out his cell phone from his pocket while doing his best not to disturb Isaac, Stiles typed out a message.

 

**To Strawberry-Blonde:**

Do you know of anything to do in Hawaii???

 

Hitting send, Stiles watched as Lydia tore her eyes away from the movie to open the message on her lit-up phone. She shot him a look before typing back.

 

**From Strawberry-Blonde:**

Why?

 

**To Strawberry-Blonde:**

Going on vacation with dad. Might be going to Hawaii. Still in the works.

 

He heard her hum for a second.

 

**From Strawberry-Blonde:**

Ask Danny. I think he has some relatives down there. Maybe you could stay with them?? Then you wouldn’t have to pay for a hotel room. How long?

 

**To Strawberry-Blonde:**

We were thinking for a few weeks. But dad can’t stay away long.

 

**To Am-I-Attractive-To-Gay-Guys:**

Do you have relatives in Hawaii?

 

**From Strawberry-Blonde:**

Then definitely see if you could stay with his relatives. Less money.

 

**From Am-I-Attractive-To-Gay-Guys:**

Yeah….why?

 

**To Strawberry-Blonde:**

Asking right now. Thanks

 

**To Am-I-Attractive-To-Gay-Guys:**

Thinking of vacationing there. Lydia said to ask you.

 

Pausing for a moment, Stiles saw as Danny was just starting to type back a reply before deciding to ask upfront.

 

**To Am-I-Attractive-To-Gay-Guys:**

If you have relatives there, can we stay with them? I promise we won’t get in their way or anything, it’s just room & board prices…

 

**From Am-I-Attractive-To-Gay-Guys:**

I was just about to send a message to my aunt about it. And it’s no bother…

 

**To Am-I-Attractive-To-Gay-Guys:**

Is there a catch?

 

Nervously, Stiles bit his lips. It’s not that he thought Danny was manipulative, but it seemed a little too-good-to-be-true.

 

**From Am-I-Attractive-To-Gay-Guys:**

No catch. Aunt says you can stay in the guest house. Says she’d love to meet some friends.

 

**To DANNY-MY-BOY:**

Thank you so much!!!!!!!!!! Wait...does she know about...you know, werewolves?

 

**From DANNY-MY-BOY:**

Yeah, she has a couple friends in the local pack down there.

 

“Danny,” Stiles whispered, “I love you.”

 

 **From Strawberry-Blonde** :

I take it he said yes?

 

Not bothering to send a message, Stiles looked at her and when she turned, gave Lydia a thumbs up.

 

 **To DANNY-MY-BOY** :

Talk later about details?

 

 **From DANNY-MY-BOY** :

Of course. You look tired.

 

Smiling, Stiles burrowed himself backwards into the couch and savored in the warmth he was receiving from the two werewolf’s alongside him.

 

“Vacation?” Scott’s almost inaudible voice startled him.

 

“Yeah, for the summer.”

 

“That’d be good for you and your dad...getting away from here.”

 

“I hope.” Stiles yawned. “Night Scottie.”

 

* * *

 

“I need to talk to you,”  Stiles said after a few minutes, pulling away from Derek’s warm embrace and maneuvering his body enough to comfortably stare right at him. It had been exactly four weeks, three days, and thirteen hours since the plans had been set for Stiles and his dad to go vacationing in Hawaii. Stiles only knew this because he was sort-of dreading bringing the topic up to Derek, and had intentionally waited until after school finals had finished to even think about what he would say to Derek.

 

“Sure.” A confused, worried look came across Derek’s face. “What’s wrong?”

 

“Nothing!” His voice went a little high-pitched, but Stiles quickly brought it down to a gentle, reassuring tone. “Nothing, I swear. I just need to tell you something important.”

 

After Stiles was sure that Derek wasn’t freaking out about an attack that wasn’t about to happen, he took Derek’s hand in his own and ran his fingers along Derek’s, tracing the vein lines up and down. In truth, it was more because Stiles was anxious about what Derek would say and his ADHD was kicking in, causing him to be restless, so tracing the outline of the veins helped him focus, even for a little while.

 

“Stiles,” Derek murmured, placing a warm hand on Stiles’s knee. “Did you take your Adderall this morning?” There was an amused look on his face, causing Stiles to glower.

 

“Yes, but that’s not what.” Stiles faced softened again and Derek’s returned back to the seriousness that it was before. “I’m going with my dad to Hawaii for a few weeks. We’re going to be staying with Danny’s relatives. I just need to-”

 

“..get away? That’s alright. Besides, I’ve never been to Hawaii.” Internally, Stiles cringed -  that’s not what he meant at all.

 

“Derek, it’s just going to be my dad and I.”

 

“What? So you’re leaving?” Quickly, Derek removed his hand from Stiles ‘s grip and stared at him with a completely heartbroken, betrayed look.

 

“Only for a few weeks. It’s to help me.”

 

“What? Am I not good enough?” Derek stood up and roughly ran a hand through his hair.

 

“That’s not what I said!” Stiles growled back defensively. Taking a deep breath though, Stiles visibly relaxed. “I just said that I’m leaving for a few weeks. I’ll be back by the end of summer.”

 

“For eleven weeks?” Derek’s dead stare was locked on Stiles’s face, and Stiles noticed that Derek’s hands were tightly gripped to the point where Derek’s knuckles were turning white. They stood in silence, Stiles staring at Derek with a pleading look in his eyes, wanting Derek to understand why he needed to get away, and Derek looking cold and calculated, looking at anything but Stiles’s face.

 

“There’s still skype, and we can call each other. It’s not like we’ll be out of touch.” Stiles tried to salvage what was left of the conversation, really not wanting to leave on bad terms with Derek.

 

“When are you leaving?”

 

“In three days.”

 

"What?!" Derek exploded, his hands flying all over the place, suddenly restless with frustrated energy.

 

"I could've waited ‘till the last second." Standing up on his feet, Stiles matched his eye level with Derek's. "In fact, I probably would've if not for Scott telling me I should tell yo-"

 

"Scott knew before me?" A sour look appeared on Derek's face, as if he had just eaten a lemon raw. "Of course he did. He's not your best friend for months but when something like this comes up, you tell him right away."

 

"His mom was the one who suggested it!" Stiles argued back.

 

"I don't care! I would've liked previous notice!"

 

"I don't see why this bothers you so much. I'm just leaving for a few weeks to get away from here."

 

"From me, you mean."

 

"Oh, look," Stiles sarcastically said, "there's the self-depreciating Derek that we all know. You're so determined that people leave to get away from you. Well, fuck you, Derek!”

 

"God, you're infuriating! So annoying, loud, and you can't even get yourself out of danger. Having to rely on others to help." Sneering, Derek took a step closer to Stiles and raised his voice. "You jump headfirst into danger, not even considering others. Your useless besides your brains."

 

"Are you saying I'm the brains to your brawn?" Stiles taunted, biting back at Derek’s words.

 

“I’m saying that besides being a good researcher and a good boyfriend, you don’t bring much to the pack.” Derek bit out, despite the voice in the back of his head saying what he’s doing is not right and he needs to stop because he’s wrong. But the ball was already rolling, and so was his tongue.

 

“How dare you!” Stiles angrily spoke, his face becoming rufescent. “This pack needs my ability to research and stay up late at night to help out. I’m just going away for a little while, why is this such a big deal?”

 

“Because…” Gritting his teeth, Derek ran his hands through his hair.

 

“Because what Derek? Use your big-boy words. I’m not a werewolf. I can’t just sense what you’re trying to say.”

 

“Because it seems like you’re running away from everything?”

 

“How am I ‘running away’?” Stiles brought up his hands to make quotation marks around the phrase Derek used.

 

“You’re leaving! I know things have been kind of rough since the witch, with you getting back to health and all, and I know some things weren’t talked about, but you’re just, pop! Off to Hawaii you go.”

 

“No Derek. You don’t get to do that to me.” Mustering up the dirtiest look Stiles could make, he shot it at Derek. “You don’t get to project what you did when your house burned down onto me. You’re the one who ran away to New York. Me? I’m going on something called a vacation, meaning I’m voluntarily coming back.”

 

"Get out! Now!" Derek yelled, letting his teeth elongate to try and scare Stiles, knowing it wouldn’t work though. "You said you wouldn't leave, but you are. You're no better than Kate or Jennifer." The venom in Derek's voice was very real, and Stiles couldn’t help but glare and nod jerkily, finally seeing what the argument had been about from the beginning.

 

"If that's how you want it." He's not man enough to admit that even he heard the crack in his words.

 

"I do." Nodding again, Stiles straightened up and started walking to the loft door. Tears were already forming in his eyes, making it hard for him to see anything farther than five feet away. Yet he refused to let them fall. "And Stiles?" Derek's bitter voice made him stop as he started to open the loft door.

 

"What?"

 

"Don't call. Don't text. Don't try to contact me at all. I'll have someone come and drop your things off. But I mean it Stiles, no contact. I don't want to talk to you - ever again."Choking back a sharp cry, Stiles wordlessly opened the loft door and shut it carefully, not having the energy to slam it like he would’ve much rather preferred.

 

* * *

 

“Boarding to Hawaii in five minutes…” The woman’s clipped voice came on the speaker again, and Stiles took a step forward to go after his dad, but stopped, looking around with the last bit of hope he had. For the past three days, Stiles was completely miserable but when he got up this morning, he put on a straight face and gladly walked to the airport. However, he couldn’t stop his heart from hoping that something would change, even at the last possible second.

 

Scott gave Stiles a pained look, knowing very well that the reason Stiles hesitated before boarding was because he wanted to see if Derek was there, if Derek would try to use his final chance to reach out. Seeing no one but his friends in their collective little pack of a group, the sorrowful expression on Stiles face changed to a impassive one, and Stiles gave one last wave to Scott and the gang. Turning his back on Beacon Hills, at least for now, Stiles followed his father up to the airplane and sat in the seat closest to the window.

 

“You okay, son?”

 

“I will be.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! So if you would like for me to publish a sequel, let me know. Otherwise, I hope you enjoyed the ending to "Old Habits".


	24. Sequel!

**As many of you have called for, there is a sequel!**

**I've added this first story to a series, which gives the link to the next one.**

**If not, just go to my author's page, and the title is "** _Die Hard_ **".**

 

**Go over and check it out! :) I'm up to eight chapters so far! And I have a lot more planned.**

**Don't let the tags upset you. I'll have you know there's a reason.**

 

**Thank you so much for being supportive, and I'll see you on the other story.**

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading :) 
> 
> All characters belong to MTV, I'm just borrowing them and adding twists.


End file.
